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PUBLIC  SCHOOL 
ADMINISTRATION 

A  STATEMENT  OF  THE   FUNDAMENTAL 

PRINCIPLES   UNDERLYING  THE  ORGANIZATION 

AND  ADMINISTRATION  OF   PUBLIC 

EDUCATION 

BY 

ELLWOOU  P.fcUBBERLEY 

PROFESSOR    OF    EDUCATION 

LELAND   STANFORD  JUNIOR 

UNIVERSITY 


HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

BOSTON     NEW  YORK     CHICAGO     SAN  FRANCISCO 


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COPYRIGHT,   I916,  BY  ELLWOOD  P.   CUBBERLEY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


nr/x. 


CAMBRIDGE  •  MASSACHUSETTS 
PRINTED  XN  THE  U.  S.  A. 


RIVERSIDE  TEXTBOOKS 
IN  EDUCATION 

EDITED  BY  ELLWOOD  P.  CUBBERLEY 

PROFESSOR   OF   EDUCATION 
LELAND  STANFORD  JUNIOR   UNIVERSITY 


DIVISION  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

UNDER  THE  EDITORIAL  DIRECTION 

OF  ALEXANDER  INGLIS 


PROFESSOR   OF  EDUCATION 
HARVARD   UNIVERSITY 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

An  attempt  has  been  made,  in  the  space  of  this  book, 
to  state  the  fundamental  principles  miderlying  the  proper 
organization  and  administration  of  public  education  in  the 
United  States;  to  state  briefly  the  historical  evolution  of 
the  principal  administrative  officers  and  problems;  and  to 
point  out  what  seem  to  be  the  most  probable  hues  of  future 
evolution. 

To  do  this,  and  to  make  a  satisfactory  textbook  on  school 
administration  in  so  short  a  space,  naturally  required  much 
condensation  and  the  employment  of  a  number  of  econo- 
mies in  presentation.  In  the  body  of  the  chapters  these 
fundamental  principles  have  been  stated,  often  somewhat 
positively.  At  the  same  time  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
base  the  statements  on  such  well-established  principles  of 
action,  tested  by  experience,  and  so  to  reinforce  the  pres- 
entation made  in  the  body  of  the  chapters  by  footnote 
extracts  and  suggestions  as  to  supplemental  reading,  as  will 
make  the  book  a  serviceable  text  for  use  in  colleges  and 
normal  schools  giving  courses  in  educational  administra- 
tion. It  is  also  hoped  that  the  volume  may  prove  useful, 
as  an  organization  of  principles,  to  supervisory  officers  of 
all  kinds  in  service  in  our  schools. 

The  book  has  naturally  centered  about  the  administra- 
tion of  city  school  systems,  simply  because  almost  all  of 
the  great  recent  progress  in  organization,  administration, 
supervision,  and  adaptation  to  needs  has  taken  place  there. 
By  showing  the  origin  and  relationship  of  aU  forms  of 


vi  EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

educational  activity  to  the  state  purpose,  as  has  been  done 
in  Part  I,  and  by  applying  the  results  of  the  administra- 
tive experience  of  our  cities  to  county  and  state  educa- 
tional organization  and  administration,  as  has  been  done  in 
Part  III,  the  author  has  tried  to  present,  in  one  volume, 
the  essential  principles  governing  proper  educational  control 
for  all  types  of  public-school  work,  —  city,  county,  and 
state. 

In  making  the  statement  of  principles  of  action  the  au- 
thor has  sought  to  avoid  what  seems  to  him  to  be  the  com- 
mon defect  of  most  of  the  books  on  school  administration 
so  far  produced,  and  that  is  such  a  nice  balancing  of  argu- 
ments that  the  book  is,  practically  colorless.  He  has  also 
tried  to  avoid  the  production  of  a  book  of  mere  facts  and 
figures.  Such  facts  can  be  obtained  without  difficulty,  and 
as  needed  from  public-school  documents.  Instead,  he  has 
endeavored  to  make  a  book  containing  such  a  clear  state- 
ment of  fundamental  principles  that  either  the  lay  reader 
or  the  student,  on  finishing  it,  shall  know  what  ought  to 
be  done,  and  why.  To  give  a  student  ideals  for  his  work, 
and  to  establish  in  his  mind  proper  principles  of  action,  has 
always  seemed  to  the  writer  an  essential  part  of  any  course 
on  public-school  administration. 

To  make  the  book  more  useful  to  students  in  classes,  a 
large  number  of  questions  for  discussion,  and  topics  for 
investigation  and  report,  have  been  added  to  each  of  the 
chapters.  These  will  serve  to  give  concreteness  to  the  pres- 
entation, and  will  enable  students  and  instructor  to  ques- 
tion and  discuss  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  text.  In 
the  footnote  extracts,  opinions  by  representative  thinkers 
and  practical  workers  have  been  given  by  way  of  backing 
up  the  arguments  presented  in  the  text.  In  the  bibliogra- 
phies at  the  end  of  the  chapters  the  author  has  shunned  the 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION  mi 

common  practice  of  adding  a  large  and  unclassified  list  of 
references,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  leaving  the  student 
to  grope  his  way  through  them.  Instead,  a  list  of  selected 
references  has  been  given,  and  these  have  been  classified 
as  to  content  and  value,  and  only  the  best  of  those  most 
likely  to  be  accessible  in  the  smaller  libraries  have  been 
cited.  The  aim  has  been  to  guide  the  student  to  a  small 
number  of  easily  accessible  articles  on  each  topic,  written 
by  those  who  have  contributed  most  to  its  discussion. 

The  administration  of  public  education  centers  about 
the  work  of  three  persons.  The  first  of  these  is  the  class- 
room teacher,  in  the  conduct  and  management  of  a  single 
school.  The  second  is  the  school  principal,  in  the  organi- 
zation, administration,  and  supervision  of  a  single  build- 
ing, or  perhaps  a  group  of  buildings.  The  third  of  these  is 
the  superintendent  of  schools,  in  the  organization,  admin- 
istration, and  supervision  of  a  group  of  schools.  The  prin- 
ciples underlying  the  successful  work  of  the  first  consti- 
tute what  is  commonly  known  as  classroom  management, 
on  which  a  volume  is  now  in  preparation  for  this  series. 
The  second  will  be  presented  in  another  future  volume  on 
the  Organization  and  Administration  of  a  School.  The  third 
is  covered  by  the  present  volume.  It  is  hoped  to  offer  soon 
still  another  volume,  on  the  Supervision  of  Instruction,  as 
another  number  of  the  administrative  division  of  this 
series. 

As  the  author  conceives  a  course  in  school  administra- 
tion, it  should  include  the  work  of  both  the  school  princi- 
pal and  the  superintendent,  the  course  beginning  with  a 
study  of  the  problems  of  organization,  administration,  and 
supervision  as  represented  in  the  building  unit,  and  being 
followed  by  a  study  of  similar  problems  for  the  larger  group. 
The  present  volume  represents  the  second  part  of  such  a 


viii  EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

course  in  school  administration,  and  is  in  effect  a  digest  of 
what  he  has  for  some  years  given  at  the  university  with 
which  he  is  connected.  Part  11  of  this  volume  also  covers 
the  substance  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  "City  School  Ad- 
ministration "  given  at  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, during  the  summer  session  of  1914. 

Ellwood  p.  Cubbebley 


CONTENTS 

PART  I.  OUTLINES  OF  STATE  EDUCATIONAL 
ORGANIZATION 

CHAPTER  I.  Origin  and  Development  of  Schools  .    .     3 

Early  attitudes  —  Schools  at  first  community  undertakings  — 
—  The  district  unit  —  Evolution  of  district  organization  — 
Early  district  officers  —  Rise  of  state  systems  —  Early  state  or- 
ganizations —  The  first  school  laws  —  The  change  lq  attitude  — 
The  present  conviction  —  Questions  for  discussion. 

CHAPTER  n.  State  Authorization  and  Control    .    .    14 

The  State  the  unit  —  Court  decisions  —  Delegated  author- 
ity —  The  recovery  of  state  sovereignty  —  Examples  of  such 
transference  —  Advantages  of  state  control  —  Disadvantages  of 
state  control  —  The  State's  proper  functions  —  A  state  educa- 
tional pohcy  —  Questions  for  investigation  and  discussion. 

CHAPTER  HI.   State  Educational  ORGAiazATiON     .     .    27 

Evolution  of  forms  of  control  —  Chief  state  school  officer  — 
The  office  an  evolution  —  Duties  of  such  an  official  —  New  de- 
mands for  leadership  —  State  boards  of  education  —  Types  of 
state  boards  —  Good  state  educational  organization  —  The 
problem  at  hand  —  Questions  for  investigation  and  discussion. 

CHAPTER  IV.  County  Educational  Organization    .     .    35 

The  county  in  school  administration  —  Evolution  of  a  county 
school  officer  —  Early  duties  of  the  office  —  New  and  changed 
duties  —  New  demand  for  educational  leadership  —  County 
boards  of  control  —  The  educatioual  problem  involved  —  Ques- 
tions for  investigation  and  discussion. 

CHAPTER  V.   Town,  Township,  and  District  Organiza- 
tion   44 

County  subdivisions  for  administration  —  The  town  — 
Marked  features  of  the  town  system  —  The  township  —  Disad- 
vantages of  the  township  unit  —  The  township  unit  not  funda- 
mentally necessary  —  The  school-district  unit  —  Bad  features 


X  CONTENTS 

of  the  district  unit  —  District  system  not  necessary  —  A  funda- 
mental reorganization  needed  —  Questions  for  investigation  and 
discussion. 

CHAPTER  VI.  The  City  School  District 5S 

The  city  district  a  special  case  —  The  city  district  an  evolu- 
tion —  Recent  rapid  growth  of  city  school  systems  —  Promi- 
nence of  city  administrative  problems  —  The  city's  distinctive 
contribution  —  State  vs.  city  control  of  the  school  district  —  Pro- 
tection instead  of  bureaucracy  —  Other  problems  of  relation- 
ship —  To  study  the  city  first  —  Questions  for  investigation  and 
discussion  —  Selected  references  covering  Part  I. 


PART  II.  THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 
AND  ITS  PROBLEMS 

CHAPTER  Vn.  Evolution  of  City  School  Organization 
AND  Administration 71 

The  original  town  control  —  Subtracting  powers  from  the 
towns  —  Rise  of  the  school  committee  —  Two  centuries  of  evo- 
lution—  Massachusetts  a  type  —  Types  of  development  else- 
where —  The  separate  school  board  —  Development  of  the  ward 
and  committee  systems  —  Evolution  of  professional  supervision 

—  Further  differentiation  of  executive  functions  —  Present  con- 
ceptions as  to  school  control —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  Organization  of  Boards  for  School 

Control 85 

Special  governing  boards  —  Recent  reorganizations  —  Tend- 
encies in  recent  reorganizations  —  Size  of  school  boards  —  Basis 
of  selection,  wards  vs.  at  large  —  Appointment  vs.  election  — 
Term  of  oflSce,  and  elections  —  Pay  for  services  —  Origin  of  pay 
proposals  —  Commission  form  of  government  and  the  schools  — 
Dependence  on  vs.  independence  of  the  city  government  —  The 
ordinary  citizen  and  the  schools  —  Disadvantages  of  city  control 

—  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation  and  re- 
port —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  IX.  Functions  of  Boards  for  School  Control  109 

The  board  as  a  body  —  Boards  continuous  and  changing  — 
Types  of  school-board  members  —  The  committee  ^orm  of  con- 
trol —  Committee  control  applied  to  hospital  management  — 
Committee  service  time-consuming  —  Committee  action  illus- 


CONTENTS  xi 

tratcd  —  A  confusion  in  functions  —  The  real  work  of  the  board 
—  Legislative  and  executive  functions  —  Selection  of  executive 
officers  —  Bases  for  selection  —  Types  of  board  members  —  Re- 
sults of  faithful  service  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for 
investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  X.  The  Superintendent  of  Schools     .     .    .  130 

A  new  profession  —  Importance  of  this  official  —  Large  duties 
of  the  office  —  Education  and  training  —  The  years  of  appren- 
ticeship —  Learning  and  working  —  Dangerous  pitfalls  —  Per- 
sonal qualities  necessary  —  The  qualities  of  leadership  —  Ques- 
tions for  discussion  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XI.  Threefold  Nature  of  the  Superintend- 
ent's Work 142 

Three  types  of  service  —  Time  for  the  larger  problems  —  Loss 
of  balance  and  perspective. 

1.  The  superintendent  as  an  organizer  —  A  policy  for  develop- 
ment —  Educating  a  board  —  Importance  of  such  service. 

2.  The  superintendent  as  an  executive  —  Proper  personal  and 
official  relations  —  Mutual  trust  and  confidence  —  Appealing 
to  the  community  —  Relations  with  the  community. 

3.  The  superintendent  as  supervisor  —  Dangers  faced  by  the 
superintendent  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  Xn.  City  School  Department  Organization  160 

Size  and  distribution  of  cities  —  The  small  city  school  system — 
The  comprehensive  type  of  superintendent  —  Dangers  of  such  a 
position  —  Organization  in  a  small  city  —  The  place  of  the  super- 
intendent in  the  scheme  —  Expansion  as  the  city  grows  —  Proper 
administrative  organization  for  the  larger  city  —  Guaranteed 
powers  —  Educational  organization  in  the  large  city  —  Central 
position  of  the  educational  department  —  Executive  heads  of 
departments  —  Faulty  educational  organization  —  Questions 
for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected 
references. 

CHAPTER   Xni.    Organization    of   the    Educational 

Dis»artment 177 

The  superintendent  as  a  department  head  —  He  gives  charac- 
ter to  the  department —  Sensitiveness  of  teachers  to  leadership  — 
Characteristics  of  a  good  supervisory  organization  —  Responsi- 
bility of  all  for  successful  work  —  A  weak  supervisory  organiza- 
tion —  Personnel  of  the  supervisory  organization  —  Assistant 


xii  CONTENTS 

superintendent  and  supervisor  —  Cabinet  solidarity  —  The  per- 
sonal equation  —  Relations  of  superintendent  and  assistant  — 
The  special  supervisors  —  The  school  principals  —  Increasing 
their  effectiveness  —  Underlying  purposes  of  supervisory  organ- 
ization—  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation 
and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XIV.  The  Teaching  Corps     ......  198 

I.  Selection  and  Tenure. 

1.  The  selection  of  teachers  —  The  early  method  —  Defects  of 
this  method  —  Importance  of  guarding  appointments  —  Funda- 
mental principles  of  action  —  Standards  which  should  prevail  — 
Methods  of  selecting  teachers  —  Right  rules  of  action  —  Bases 
for  selecting  teachers  —  The  competitive  examination  —  Electing 
applicants  vs.  hunting  teachers 

2.  The  tenure  of  teachers  —  The  usual  plan  —  The  uncertain 
tenure  of  teachers  —  The  life-tenure  movement  —  Effect  of  life- 
tenure  on  the  schools  —  A  middle  ground  —  Terminating  the 
contract  —  Supervisory  officers  and  tenure  —  Assistant  superin- 
tendents —  Assignment  of  the  teaching  staff  —  Questions  for 
discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected  ref- 
erences. 

CHAPTER  XV.  The  Teaching  Corps 225 

II.  Training  and  Supervision. 

1.  The  training  of  teachers  —  Leavening  the  teaching  corps 

—  Professional  standard  for  entrance  —  The  local  training- 
school  —  Limitations  to  such  training  —  Effect  of  such  courses 
on  the  school  system  —  Training  vs.  attracting  teachers  —  Train- 
ing of  teachers  in  service  —  Teachers'  meetings  —  Reading-circle 
work  —  Leaves  of  absence  for  study. 

2.  The  supervision  of  teachers  —  Deficient  supervision  — 
Supervision  of  the  wrong  type  —  Need  for  helpful  supervision 

—  Purpose  of  all  supervision  —  Means  to  this  end  —  Distribu- 
tion of  time  and  effort  —  Demonstration  teaching  —  Placing 
for  effective  work  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for 
investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XVI.  The  Teaching  Corps 251 

III.  Pay  and  Promotion. 

Low  standards  and  compensation  —  Adequate  pay  necessary 

—  What  such  pay  is  worth  —  Reasonable  salary  demands  — 
Automatic  increases  —  Rewards  for  growth  and  efficient  service 

—  Stimulating  industry  and  individual  improvement. 


CONTENTS  xiii 

1.  Graded  salaries  based  on  positions  —  Defects  of  such  sched- 
ules. 

2.  Additional  salary  grants  for  study. 

3.  Salary  grants  based  on  grades  in  service  —  Promotions  on 
recommendation  —  Promotional  examinations. 

4.  Salary  grants  based  on  efficiency  —  Criticism  of  the  plan  — 
Plan  right  in  principle  —  Type  plans  for  estimating  efficiency  — 
Incentives  to  growth  —  Essential  features  of  a  good  salary  sched- 
ule —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation  and 
report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XVII.  The  Courses  of  Instruction   ...  274 

I.  Construction  and  Types. 

The  superintendent  and  the  courses  of  study  —  The  superin- 
tendent's guiding  hand  —  The  construction  of  courses  of  study. 

1.  Information  or  knowledge  courses — Dependence  on  text- 
books—  The  administration  of  such  courses  —  Effect  on  the 
instructing  body.     ^ 

2.  The  development  type  of  courses  —  The  principal  and 
teacher  in  such  a  school  system  —  Such  courses  growing  courses 

—  Cooperation  of  all  needed  —  Variations  between  schools  — 
Experimental  rooms  or  schools  —  Study  of  local  problems  and 
needs  —  Economy  of  time  in  education  —  Questions  for  discus- 
sion —  Topics  for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XVm.  The  Courses  of  Instruction.     .    .  294 

II.  Adjustments  and  Diffebentiations. 

1.  Retardation  and  acceleration  —  The  average  course  of  study 

—  A  poorly  adjusted  course  of  study  —  The  results  of  non-pro- 
motion—  The  effect  of  such  conditions.  —  The  super-normal 
child. 

2.  Promotional  plans  —  More  frequent  promotions  —  The 
Batavia  plan  —  The  Pueblo  plan  —  The  new  Cambridge  plan  — 
The  differentiated-course  plan  —  The  Baltimore  experiment  — 
The  Mannheim  plan  of  grading. 

3.  Differentiations  in  school  work  —  New  types  of  schools. 

4.  Fundamental  reorganizations  —  Reorganizing  the  upper 
grades  —  Theory  of  the  intermediate  school  —  A  reorganized  and 
expanded  school  system  —  A  reorganized  and  redirected  school 
system  —  The  Gary  plan  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics 
for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XIX.    Efficiency  Experts;  Testing  Results  325 

A  new  movement  —  Meaning  of  the  movement  —  The  scien- 
tific purpose  —  Measurement  by  comparison  —  Units  or  stand- 


xiv  CONTENTS 

ards  for  measurement  —  Need  for  standards  as  guides  —  Im- 
portance of  such  standards  —  Efficiency  departments  —  Lines 
of  service;  experimental  pedagogy  —  The  clinical  psychologist 
and  his  work  —  A  continuous  survey  of  production  —  Questions 
for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected 
references. 

CHAPTER  XX.    The  Department  of  Health  Super- 
vision  344 

Health  supervision  a  necessity  —  Three  stages  of  develop- 
ment —  Scope  of  the  work  —  Control  of  the  work  —  The  large- 
city  plan  —  The  smaller-city  plan  —  The  teacher  and  health 
service  —  Importance  of  the  service  —  Questions  for  discussion 
—  Topics  for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XXI.  The  Attendance  Department  ...  857 

The  compulsion  to  attend  —  Differences  and  difficulties  — 
The  attendance  department  —  Increased  school  attendance  — 
The  registration  of  school  children  —  A  continuing  school  census 
— Further  obstacles  and  needs  —  Types  of  schools  needed  —  The 
educational  opportunity  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics 
for  investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER    XXn.    Business    and    Clerical    Depart- 
ment  375 

Department  organization  —  Work  of  such  a  department  — 
Purpose  of  the  department  —  Misdirection  of  the  business  de- 
partment —  Purpose  and  position  of  such  departments  —  Intel- 
ligent expenditures  —  Topics  for  investigation  and  report  — 
Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XXin.   The  School-Properties  Department  384 

The  superintendent  of  school  properties  —  Purpose  and  place 
of  this  department  —  Responsibility  of  the  superintendent  of 
schools  —  A  new  type  of  building  needed  —  The  new  Pittsburg 
type  of  building  —  Larger  use  of  school-buildings  —  Costs  for 
buildings  —  Payment  for  by  tax  or  by  bonding  —  Large  future 
educational  needs  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for  inves- 
tigation and  report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XXIV.  Auxiliary  Educational  Agencies    .  397 

1.  The  public  library  —  Efforts  toward  cooperation  —  Admin- 
istrative control —  Unity  of  the  work  of  library  and  school — The 
library  in  the  future  school. 


CONTENTS  XV 

2.  The  public  playgrounds  —  Playground  oi^anization  —  Im- 
portance of  directed  play. 

3.  School  gardeniag  —  School  gardening  and  the  school  — 
New  educational  agencies  and  purposes  —  Questions  for  discus- 
sion —  Topics   for   investigation   and   report  —  Selected   ref er- 


CHAPTER  XXV.     Costs,  Funds,  and  Accounting  .    .   408 

Constantly  iacreasiag  costs  —  A  cheap  school  system  — 
The  problem  of  increased  funds  —  Funds  independent  of  the 
coimcil  —  The  competition  for  city  funds  —  A  better  school  bud- 
get —  Better  accounting  methods  —  School  accounts  and  unit 
costs  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation  and 
report  —  Selected  references. 

CHAPTER  XXVI.  Records  and  Reports 423 

Good  records  a  necessity  —  Pupil  records  —  School-system 
records  —  The  annual  school  report  —  Effective  presentation 
of  information  —  Enlightening  the  pubUc  —  Selected  ref erence^. 


PART  m.  CITY  ADMINISTRATIVE 
EXPERIENCE  APPLIED 

CHAPTER   XXVII.    City   Administrative   Experience 
Summarized 433 

The  city  an  educational  miit  —  Administrative  organization  — 
Diversity  as  a  result  of  unity  —  Teaching  and  supervisory  organ- 
ization —  Business  organization  and  finance  —  Initiative  and 
educational  progress  —  Clear  and  unmistakable  lessons. 

CHAPTER  XXVin.  Application  to  County  Educational 
Organization 441 

City  and  county  administration  contrasted  —  District  trustee 
control  —  Need  for  a  fundamental  reorganization  —  Rudimen- 
tary county-unit  organizations  —  The  county  superintendency 
—  Why  trained  men  go  to  the  cities  —  The  way  out  —  Details 
of  a  county-unit  plan:  (1)  General  control — (2)  Educational 
Control  —  (3)  Business  and  clerical  control  — (4  )  Powers  and 
duties  of  the  superintendent  —  Such  a  reorganization  not  easy  — 
Steps  in  the  process  —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  (of 
investigation  and  report  —  Selected  references. 


xvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXIX.    Application  to  State  Educational 

Organization 458 

State  organization  undeveloped  —  The  chief  state  school  office 
—  Potential  importance  of  the  office  —  State  departments  of  edu- 
cation —  Controlling  principles:  (1)  General  control  —  (2)  Edu- 
cational control  —  (3)  The  chief  state  school  officer  —  Piu^ose 
of  such  an  organization  —  State  administrative  problems  — 
The  State  to  establish  minima  —  State  stimulation  vs.  state  uni- 
formity —  Questions  for  discussion  —  Topics  for  investigation 
and  report  —  Selected  references. 

INDEX 473 


LIST  OF  FIGUEES 

1.  Early  Organization  of  School  Districts 6 

2.  Later  Organization  and  Reorganization 7 

8.  New  England  Towns  and  Western  Townships  compared ...  48 

4.  Units  for  School  Organization  and  Administration     ....  51 

6.  City  and  School-District  Boundaries  compared 62 

6.  Chart  showing  the  Development  of  Special  and  Professional  Con- 

trol in  the  Administration  of  City  School  Systems    between  76  and  77 

7.  Growth  of  a  Professional  Consciousness facing     80 

8.  Tendencies  of  Twenty-five  Years  (1895-1920)  in  School-Board 

Reorganizations 88 

9.  Frequency  of  Size  of  School  Board   ...••••.    91 

10.  A  City  of  Nine  Wards 94 

11.  Illustrating  the  Process  of  Educating  a  School  Board       .       ,      .  146 

12.  Plan  of  Educational  Organization  for  a  Small  City  School  Sys- 

tem, and  showing  Proper  Relationships 167 

13.  Plan  of  Educational  Organization  for  a  Medium-sized  City  School 

System,  and  showing  Proper  Relationships       .  between  170  and  171 

14.  Plan  of  Educational  Organization  for  a  Large  City  School  Sys- 

tem, and  showing  Proper  Relationships  .        between  172  and  173 

15.  An  Incorrect  Form  of  Educational  Organization       between  174  and  175 

16.  Teachers'  Salaries  and  Pay  in  the  Trades  compared       .      .       .  254 

17.  Tendencies  in  the  Distribution  of  Teachers  under  Different  Types 

of  Supervision  and  Different  Salary  Schedules       ....  256 
17x.  A  Teacher-Efficiency  Score  Card  266 

18.  Promotional  Results  in  a  City  following  a  Course  of  Study  ad- 

justed to  the  Average  Capacity  of  the  Pupils 295 

19.  Promotional  Results  in  a  City  following  a  Knowledge-Type  Course 

of  Study,  and  with  Quarterly  Promotional  Examinations   .      .  296 

20.  Retardation  and  Acceleration  in  the  Grades 297 

21.  The  Batavia  Plan 302 

22.  The  Pueblo  Plan;  Individual  Progress 303 

23.  The  Pueblo  Plan;  Group  Progress 303 

24.  The  New  Cambridge  Plan 304 

25.  The  Portland  Plan 305 

26.  The  Differentiated-Course  Plan 306 

27.  Class  Organization  of  the  Volksschule  at  Mannheim,  Germany    .  309 


xviii  LIST  OF  FIGURES 

28.  The  Transformation  of  the  Newton,  Massachusetts,  School  Sys- 

tem     between  314  and  315 

29.  Result  of  the  Redirection  of  the  Newton  Schools       ....  316 
SO.  A  Courtis  Score  Card  in  Arithmetic 334 

31.  Effect  of  Absence  on  Promotion  Rate  and  Dropping  from  School  361 

32.  Showing  Decline  in  Attendance  after  the  Sixth  Grade      .      .      .  370 

33.  Principal  and  Interest  Cost  for  a  School-Building      ....  392 

34.  Showing  the  Competition  for  City  Funds 414 

35.  County-Unit  Educational  Organization  .      .      .  between  448  and  449 
80.  State  Educational  Organization between  464  and  465 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 
PART  I 

OUTLINES  OF  STATE  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 
CHAPTER  I 

ORIGIN  AND   DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS 

Early  attitudes.  Everywhere,  with  us,  the  school  arose  as 
a  distinctively  local  institution,  and  to  meet  local  needs. 
The  Federal  Constitution  made  no  mention  of  any  form  of 
education  for  the  people,  nor  does  the  subject  occur  in  the 
debates  of  the  Federal  Constitutional  Convention.  By  the 
terms  of  the  Tenth  Amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion,^ ratified  in  1791,  education  became  one  of  the  many 
unmentioned  powers  '*  reserved  to  the  States." 

Of  the  fourteen  state  constitutions  framed  by  1800, 
six  made  no  mention  whatever  of  schools  or  education,  and 
in  a  number  of  the  others  the  mention  was  very  brief  and 
indefinite. 2  Nothing  which  could  be  regarded  as  even  the 
beginnings  of  a  state  system  or  series  of  systems  of  educa- 
tion existed.  Nine  colleges,^  a  few  private  secondary 
schools,  and  a  number  of  private  and  church  schools  offer- 
ing some  elementary-school  instruction  of  an  indifferent 
character,  constituted  the  educational  resources  of  the  new 
nation.  Even  in  New  England,  where  a  good  beginning  had 

1  "Article  X.  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the 
Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people." 

2  See  Cubberley  and  Elliott,  State  and  County  School  Administrationt 
vol.  II,  Source  Book,  pp.  12-17. 

'  Harvard,  William  and  Mary,  Yale,  Princeton,  Pennsylvania,  Colum- 
bia, Brown,  Rutgers,  and  Dartmouth.  Thirteen  additional  colleges  were 
founded  between  1776  and  1800. 


4  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

been  made  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  educational  en- 
thusiasm of  the  people  had  largely  died  out  and  the  schools 
had  sadly  degenerated.  In  the  rural  districts,  where  the 
greater  number  of  our  people  then  Hved,  there  were  prac- 
tically no  schools  of  any  kind,  while  in  the  towns  and 
cities  ignorance,  vagrancy,  and  pauperism  went  hand  in 
hand. 

Schools  at  first  community  undertakings.  For  some  dec- 
ades after  the  estabUshment  of  our  Republic  this  condition 
and  attitude  continued.  The  apprentice  system  and  the 
school  of  experience,  rather  than  the  school  of  books,  min- 
istered to  the  needs  of  the  people  of  the  time.  We  were  a 
simple  and  a  homogeneous  people,  devoted  chiefly  to  a 
subsistence  type  of  agriculture;  the  old  aristocratic  con- 
ception of  education  still  prevailed;  and  there  was  little  in 
the  political,  economic,  or  social  Hfe  of  the  time  which  made 
education  at  public  expense  seem  important. 

Many  of  the  earlier  schools  were  private  undertakings, 
though,  not  infrequently,  these  were  aided  by  public  sup- 
port. Sometimes  the  people  of  a  community  built  a  school- 
house  and  then  permitted  a  teacher  to  conduct  a  private 
school  in  it,  and  later  on  the  school  was  taken  over  and  made 
a  pubHc  school.  In  still  other  cases  the  first  schools  were 
distinctively  voluntary  community  undertakings,  owing 
their  origin  and  maintenance  to  the  voluntary  action  and 
contributions  of  parents  who  sent  their  children  to  them.  In 
still  other  cases  the  first  of  the  early  schools  were  established 
as  pubhc  schools  in  response  to  direct  legislative  permission, 
though  many  of  these  were  at  first  only  subsidized  private 
schools,  or' the  "  rate-bill  "  —  a  per-capita  tax  levied  on  the 
parents  of  the  children  attending  —  was  for  years  used 
to  supplement  the  tax  levied  by  the  community  for  their 
support.  Many  of  the  city  school  systems  in  the  territory 
north  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Potomac  and  east  of  the  Missis- 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS        6 

sippi  River  trace  their  origin  from  some  one  of  these  forms  of 
early  community  endeavor.^ 

The  district  iinit.  These  early  community  efforts  show 
how  natural  it  was  that  the  school  district  should  have  be- 
come the  unit  for  educational  organization.  Though  the 
town  to  the  eastward  and  the  congressional  township  in  the 
new  States  to  the  westward  were  early  made  the  unit  for 
civil  administration,  such  units  soon  proved  unsuited  to 
the  school  needs  of  the  early  pioneer,  and,  as  the  schools 
developed,  the  smaller  and  irregular  school  district,  rather 
than  the  town  or  the  township,  became  the  unit  for  educa- 
tional organization  and  administration. 

As  a  unit  for  school  organization  the  district  was  well 
suited  to  the  somewhat  primitive  needs  of  the  time.  Wher- 
ever half  a  dozen  families  lived  near  enough  together  to 
make  organization  possible,  they  were  permitted,  by  the 
early  laws,  to  meet  together  and  vote  to  form  a  school  dis- 
trict and  organize  and  maintain  a  school.  Districts  could 
be  formed  anywhere,  of  any  size  and  shape,  and  only  those 
families  or  communities  desiring  schools  need  be  included 
in  the  district  organization.  The  simphcity  and  democracy 
of  the  plan  made  a  strong  appeal.  Communities  desiring 
schools  and  willing  to  pay  taxes  for  them  could  organize  and 
maintain  them;  communities  not  desiring  them  or  unwilling 
to  support  them  could  let  them  alone. 

1  In  Buffalo,  for  example,  a  sehoolhouse  was  built  privately  in  1806. 
This  was  burned  in  1813,  and  in  1818  the  town  levied  a  tax  to  rebuild  the 
school,  but  city  maintenance  and  control  did  not  come  for  some  years 
thereafter. 

In  Cincinnati,  private-venture  schools  existed  before  1800;  in  18]  7  a 
private  Lancastrian  school  was  opened;  and  in  1818  a  wealthy  banker  left 
a  bequest  of  $1000  a  year  "for  a  charity  school."  It  was  not  until  1825 
that  a  public-school  system  was  organized. 

In  Chicago,  on  the  sale  of  the  school  lands  in  1833,  grants  were  made, 
until  1844,  to  the  teachers  of  the  existing  private  schools,  who  in  turn 
certified  attendance  to  the  public-school  trustees.  The  first  city  school- 
house  was  not  built  until  1845. 


6  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Evolution  of  district  organization.  Organized  at  first  only 
where  there  were  settlements,  in  time  all  the  area  of  a 
county,  and  eventually  of  a  state,  came  to  be  included  in 
some  school  district.  The  evolution  of  districts  is  well 
shown  in  the  illustrations  on  this  and  the  following  page. 
These  show  the  process  of  district  formation  within  a 
county.  At  first,  during  its  period  of  settlement,  only  a 
portion  of  the  county  was  organized  into  school  districts; 


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1835  I860 

Fia.  1.    EARLY  ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS 


later  on,  all  was  so  organized,  and  towns,  with  their  graded 
school  systems,  began  to  develop.  Still  later,  the  increase 
of  population  led  to  the  development  of  a  central  county- 
seat  city  and  two  towns  along  the  fine  of  the  new  railway, 
and  to  a  subdivision  of  nearly  all  the  larger  rural  districts; 
and,  still  later,  the  changes  in  the  distribution  of  the  popu- 
lation have  led  to  the  abandonment  of  some  of  the  district 
organizations,  the  consolidation  of  eight  others  into  one 
rural  and  consolidated  school,  and  a  very  material  enlarge- 
ment of  the  school  system  of  the  central  city  and  the  two 
towns.  The  process  illustrated  here  is  typical  of  the  evo- 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS        7 

lution  which  has  taken  place  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States. 


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».  2.    LATER  ORGANIZATION  AND  REORGANIZATION 


Early  district  officers.  Each  school  district,  once  legally 
organized,  became  "  a  body  politic  and  corporate,"  and 
possessed  of  certain  legal  powers.  For  the  government  of 
the  school  created,  members  of  the  community,  usually 
three  in  number,  were  elected  by  the  people  as  district 
trustees,  and  they,  guided  by  the  people  in  the  annual  and 
special  school-district  meetings,  managed  the  schools  as 
best  they  knew.  As  a  simple  and  democratic  means  for 
providing  schools  for  the  children  of  people  living  under 
somewhat  primitive  pioneer  conditions,  the  district  system 
rendered  a  useful  service.  In  the  days  before  modern  school 
systems  were  developed,  when  there  were  no  courses  of 
study,  no  supervisory  officers,  no  sanitary  regulations,  and 
almost  no  organized  body  of  school  law  or  pedagogical 
knowledge,  these  local  representatives  handled  the  schools 
in  a  manner  which  gave  reasonable  satisfaction  to  the 
people  they  represented.   So  well  was  the  district  unit 


8  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

adapted  to  the  educational  needs  of  an  earlier  and  more 
primitive  society  that  it  has,  in  many  of  our  States,  per- 
sisted to  the  present,  though  most  of  the  conditions  which 
gave  rise  to  it  and  gave  it  its  earher  importance  have  since 
largely  passed  away. 

Rise  of  state  systems.  In  time,  the  national  land-grants 
for  public  schools,  which  began  with  Ohio  in  1802,  came  to 
exert  a  stimulating  effect  on  the  new  States  to  the  west  of 
the  Allegheny  Mountains.  The  different  States  early  pro- 
vided for  the  election  or  appointment  of  trustees  to  care  for 
the  school-section  lands,  and,  after  permission  to  sell  them 
had  been  granted  by  Congress,^  to  see  that  the  proceeds 
were  husbanded  and  the  income  properly  spent.  The  creation 
of  the  so-called  "  Literary  Funds  "  was  also  begun  by  the 
older  States  to  the  east.  The  permanent  school  fund  of 
New  York  dates  from  1805;  that  of  Maryland,  from  1812; 
New  Jersey,  from  1816;  North  Carolina,  from  1825;  Penn- 
sylvania, from  1831;  and  Massachusetts,  from  1834. 

It  was  some  Httle  time,  however,  before  the  demand  for 
a  system  of  public  schools,  to  supplement  and  in  part  dis- 
place the  private,  charity,  and  church  schools  of  the  time, 
made  itseff  felt.  The  simple  agricultural  life,  the  homo- 
geneity of  the  people,  the  isolation  and  independence  of  the 
villages,  the  hard  life  of  the  time,  and  the  absence  of  im- 
portant pohtical  questions  to  be  settled  at  the  polls  made 
the  need  for  schools  and  learning  a  relatively  minor  one.  It 
was  not  until  after  about  1820  that  the  development  of 
manufacturing,  the  extension  of  manhood  suffrage,  the 
action  of  the  labor  unions,  the  rise  of  the  many  humanita- 
rian movements,  and  the  introduction  of  the  Lancastrian 
system  of  instruction  began  to  awaken  a  demand  for 

1  First  granted  by  Congress  to  Ohio  in  1826,  followed  by  permission  to 
Alabama  in  1827,  Indiana  in  1828,  and,  Arkansas,  Illinois,  Louisiana,  and 
Tennessee  in  1843. 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS        9 

public  tax-supported  schools,  under  the  authority  and 
partial  support  of  the  state.  The  "  charity-school "  con- 
ception of  education,  under  which  free  tuition  was  to  be 
provided  only  to  the  children  of  the  deserving  poor;  the 
plan  of  turning  education  over  to  the  churches  and  rehgious 
societies,  with  some  aid  from  the  pubHc  purse;  and  the 
earlier  aristocratic  idea  that  education  was  an  individual 
rather  than  a  public  matter;  —  all  these  had  to  be  met  and 
eliminated.  Gradually,  however,  the  people  of  the  different 
States  were  converted  to  the  idea  of  adopting  pubHc  edu- 
cation as  a  state  function,  and  state  after  state  began  to  pro- 
vide for  tax-supported  schools. 

Early  state  organizations.  The  first  permanent  law  for 
the  organization  of  schools  in  the  State  of  New  York  was 
enacted  in  1812;  New  Jersey  first  provided  for  the  education 
of  pauper  children  in  1820,  and  created  schools  for  all  in 
1838;  Ohio  first  authorized  taxation  for  education  in  1821, 
and  the  law  of  1825  made  the  real  beginning  of  a  school 
system  for  the  State;  the  first  school  law  in  lUinois  dates 
from  1825;  Baltimore  began  schools  in  1825,  and  Maryland 
enacted  an  optional  school-organization  law  in  1826; 
Rhode  Island  first  organized  schools  in  1828,  though  the 
city  of  Providence  had  organized  schools  as  early  as  1800 
and  Newport  had  provided  for  its  pauper  children  in  1825; 
Philadelphia  was  permitted  to  organize  free  schools  in  1816, 
though  the  first  Pennsylvania  school  law  dates  from  1834; 
the  creation  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  1837  made  the  beginnings  of  state  oversight  and 
control  for  that  State  and  greatly  stimulated  schools  there 
and  in  neighboring  States;  North  Carolina  enacted  an 
optional  county  school-organization  law  in  1839;  and  the 
Indiana  school  system  really  dates  from  1849,  though  the 
first  permissive  law  goes  back  to  1824. 

Many  of  the  cities  began  schools  at  about  the  same  time. 


10  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

The  public  school  system  of  Cincinnati  dates  from  1825; 
Chicago's  first  public  school,  from  1830;  Pittsburg's  school 
system,  from  1835;  Cleveland's,  from  1836;  Buffalo's,  from 
1837;  and  New  York  City's,  from  1842;  while  Washington 
did  not  free  itself  from  the  pauper-school  idea  until  after 
1844.  In  most  of  the  smaller  cities  and  villages  free  public 
schools  did  not  begin  until  after  they  had  been  ordered 
estabhshed  by  the  school  law  of  the  State. 

The  battle  for  the  estabHshment  of  tax-supported  public 
schools  was  a  bitter  one,  but  after  about  1850  it  had  been 
won  in  every  Northern  State.  The  new  States  to  the  west- 
ward have  all  inaugurated  a  free  public  educational  system, 
as  a  part  of  the  State*s  pubHc  service  to  its  citizens,  either 
at  the  time  of  their  creation  as  States  or  during  the  previous 
territorial  period.  In  the  Southern  States,  with  two  or  three 
exceptions,  little  was  accompHshed  until  after  the  Civil 
War  and  the  period  of  Reconstruction  were  over. 

The  first  school  laws.  Many  of  the  earliest  state  laws 
relating  to  education  were  purely  permissive  measures. 
They  merely  granted  to  the  people  of  the  different  com- 
munities in  the  State  the  right  to  meet  and  form  a  school 
district,  and  to  levy,  legally,  a  property  tax  for  schools. 
Such  laws  frequently  merely  permitted  a  change  in  form 
from  private  community  effort  to  a  legal  organization  under 
the  authority  of  the  State.  Of  such  a  nature  were  the  first 
laws  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  some  other  States. 

Still  other  of  these  early  laws  were  even  more  special, 
being,  in  effect,  an  authorization  to  certain  specified  cities 
within  the  State  to  form  a  public  school  system  and  to  levy 
a  tax  for  schools,  but  without  granting  such  power  to  the 
State  as  a  whole.  Of  such  a  nature  were  the  early  laws  per- 
mitting of  the  formation  of  pubHc  schools  in  Providence, 
Newport,  and  Philadelphia.  After  schools  had  been  begun 
in  places  under  these  permissive  laws  legislation  was  then 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS      11 

secured,  though  usually  only  after  much  argument  and 
effort,  requiring  the  estabhshment  of  schools  throughout 
the  State. 

The  change  in  attitude.  Gradually,  though  but  slowly, 
the  state  laws  relating  to  schools  were  enlarged  in  scope, 
and  a  School  Code  for  each  of  the  States  has  gradually  been 
built  up.  The  history  of  the  gradual  expansion  of  our  edu- 
cational system,  and  the  gradual  transference  of  powers 
from  district  to  township,  township  to  county,  and  county 
to  State,  in  the  interests  of  better  organization  and  more 
efficient  administration,  forms  an  interesting  part  of  the 
story  of  our  nation's  growth.  To  trace  it  would  be  to  trace 
much  of  the  story  of  our  national  development.  From  a 
collection  of  isolated  villages  and  rural  communities  we 
have  expanded  to  a  large  nation,  each  part  bound  to  all 
the  other  parts  by  close  social,  commercial,  and  p>ohtical 
ties.  New  world-relationships  have  been  developed,  and  the 
early  isolation,  and  with  it  the  early  ideas  as  to  great  local 
importance,  have,  in  large  part,  been  swept  away.  New 
methods  of  transacting  both  public  and  private  business 
have  been  introduced,  and  the  need  for  larger  units  for  the 
administration  of  the  pubHc's  business  has  been  made  evi- 
dent to  practically  all.  New  needs  and  new  problems  have 
arisen  in  our  democratic  life,  for  many  of  which  education 
has  been  seen  to  be  almost  our  only  remedy. 

Public  education  has  thus  gradually  been  established  as 
a  great  state,  one  might  also  say  a  great  national,  interest. 
The  principle  that  the  wealth  of  the  State  must  educate  the 
children  of  the  State  has  been  firmly  estabUshed.  Sectarian- 
ism and  the  **  charity-conception  "  have  been  eliminated. 
The  compulsory  attendance  of  children  of  school  age  is  at 
last  beginning  to  be  enforced.  The  school  term  has  been 
very  materially  lengthened,  the  course  of  instruction  has 
been  greatly  enriched,  the  methods  of  instruction  have  been 


n  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

much  improved,  and  an  entirely  new  type  of  material  equip- 
ment has  been  substituted.  The  School  Code  of  each  of  the 
States  to-day  represents  an  important  historical  develop- 
ment, and  contains  a  large,  important,  and  constantly  ex- 
panding body  of  school  law,  while  school  legislation  has 
become  one  of  the  important  interests  considered  in  each 
meeting  of  the  legislature  of  the  State. 

The  present  conviction.  As  a  result  it  may  be  stated  to 
be,  to-day,  a  settled  conviction  of  the  people  of  our  different 
American  States  that  the  provision  of  a  Uberal  system  of 
free  education  for  the  children  of  the  State  is  one  of  the 
most  important  duties  of  the  State,  and  that  such  educa- 
tion contributes  very  markedly  to  the  moral  upHft  of  the 
people,  to  a  higher  civic  virtue,  and  to  increased  economic 
returns  to  the  State.  We  of  to-day  conceive  of  free  public 
education  as  a  birthright  of  the  child  on  the  one  hand,  and 
as  an  exercise  of  the  State's  inherent  right  to  self-preserva- 
tion and  improvement  on  the  other.  The  children  of  to-day 
are  the  voters  of  to-morrow,  and  to  prepare  them  well  for 
their  duties  is  the  opportunity  of  the  State.  Each  new 
generation  of  voters,  so  prepared,  should  in  turn  stand  for 
an  enlarged  conception  as  to  the  need  for,  purpose,  function, 
and  scope  of  public  education.  In  no  other  country  have 
the  people  worked  out  so  fully  the  purpose  of  making  a 
system  of  public  education  good  enough  for  rich  and  poor 
alike,  and  with  equal  opportunity  for  all,  and  in  no  other 
country  have  the  results  shown  forth  to  better  advantage 
in  the  general  intelligence,  poise,  good  judgment,  and  pro- 
ductive capacity  of  the  people. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  How  do  you  explain  the  lack  of  any  mention  of  education  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States? 

2.  How  do  you  account  for  education,  which  had  been  started  well  in  early 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS      13 

New  England,  being  at  such  a  low  ebb  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of 
the  Union? 

3.  What  do  you  understand  to  have  b^n  meant  by  "the  charity-concep- 
tion" of  education? 

4.  What  national  developments  have  helped  to  change  education  from  a 
private  and  personal  matter  to  a  general  national  undertaking? 

5.  In  what  ways  have  national  changes  altered  the  type  of  unit  for  school 
organization  best  suited  to  educational  needs? 


CHAPTER  II 

STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL 

The  State  the  unit.  In  all  of  this  development,  however, 
it  should  be  noted  that  the  authority  and  power  to  develop 
have  come  from  the  State  and  not,  except  secondarily,  from 
the  community.  This  is  an  important  point  to  be  kept  in 
mind.  The  school  district,  the  township,  the  village,  the 
city,  and  the  county  are  all  subordinate  creations  of  the 
State,  erected  for  the  purpose  of  better  local  administra- 
tion. The  State  creates  these  subdivisions  of  itseK  and  then 
endows  them  with  their  powers,  and  these  it  may  add  to 
or  subtract  from,  within  the  limits  set  by  the  constitution 
of  the  State,  and  as  the  best  interests  of  the  State  may 
seem  to  require.  It  has  been  the  people  as  a  whole,  repre- 
sented in  the  legislature  of  the  State,  and  not  portions  of 
the  people  here  and  there,  who  have  been  supreme  in  the 
matter  of  educational  legislation.  Such  has  been  the  policy 
of  practically  every  State,  and  such  a  policy  has  the  support 
of  practically  all  of  the  administrative  experience  relating 
to  public  instruction  which  we  have  accumulated  since  we 
began  to  adopt  education  as  a  proper  function  of  the  State. 

The  principle  involved  was  so  well  stated  by  Secretary 
Hill,  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education,  in  dis- 
cussing the  right  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  to  require 
every  town  in  the  State  to  be  under  the  supervision  of  a 
properly  qualified  superintendent  of  schools,  that  his  words 
are  worth  quoting  here  entire.   He  said :  — 

In  this  matter  of  determining  what  is  best  for  the  welfare  of  the 
schools,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  it  is  the  people  as  a  whole 
who  are  supreme,  and  not  portions  of  them  here  and  there.    It 


STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL         15 

needs  only  an  elementary  acquaintance  with  the  constitution  of  the 
State  to  satisfy  one  that  in  law  the  State  is  not  the  creation  of 
the  towns,  but  the  towns  rather  of  the  State.  The  powers  of  the 
State  are  not  derived  from  the  towns,  but  those  of  the  towns  from 
the  State.  In  other  words,  the  people,  without  reference  to  towns 
existing  at  the  time,  or  to  possible  towns  thereafter,  organized  the 
State  and  fixed  its  authority.  And  ever  since  the  State  has  been 
making  towns  and  unmaking  them,  adding  to  their  powers  and 
subtracting  from  them,  and  in  a  thousand  ways,  within  the  limits 
of  the  original  compact,  showing  its  supremacy.  This  way  of 
putting  it,  however,  is  suggestive  of  a  despotism  that  does  not 
really  exist;  for  it  needs  to  be  repeated  that  the  State  is  not  an 
authority  apart  and  different  from  the  people  of  the  towns,  ruling 
them  from  a  distance  and  insensitive  to  their  interests.  On  the 
contrary,  the  State  is  an  expression,  by  formal  and  solemn  agree- 
ment, of  the  will  of  the  people  living  in  these  very  towms,  —  the 
highest  expression,  indeed,  the  towns'  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth ever  made  of  their  civic  aspirations  and  resolves.  Whatever 
authority  the  town  has  over  its  schools,  it  has  by  direction  and 
permission  of  the  State;  that  is,  by  direction  or  permission  of  the 
people  at  large,  of  whom  the  people  of  the  town  are  a  part.  Now, 
this  view  of  the  relation  of  the  State  to  the  towns  and  the  schools, 
supported,  as  it  is,  by  the  constitution  of  the  Commonwealth, 
should  silence  certain  ill-considered  talk  that  is  heard  when  new 
legislation  affecting  the  town  is  proposed,  about  the  State's  tres- 
passing on  town  rights,  usurping  town  privileges,  establishing  a 
central  despotism,  and  all  that.  The  fundamental  thing  about  a 
State's  power  is  that  the  State,  within  the  terms  of  the  constitu- 
tion, can  curtail,  if  it  chooses,  the  rights  of  towns  without  trespass, 
withdraw  privileges  from  them  without  usurpation,  give  them  new 
powers  without  exhaustion  of  its  own,  and  exercise  additional  cen- 
tral authority  over  them,  with  wide  margins  for  subsequent  con- 
tingencies. The  right  of  the  State,  for  instance,  to  determine  the 
nature  of  the  supervision  the  schools  should  have  is  indisputable. 
The  expediency  of  any  particular  measure  looking  to  that  end, 
however,  is  a  legitimate  subject  for  discussion.  ^ 

Court  decisions.    This  same  view  has  also  been  stated, 
more  or  less  clearly,  in  decisions  of  the  highest  courts  in 

1  Annual  Reports  of  the  State  Board  of  Education  of  Massachusetts,  1898- 
99,  p.  188. 


16  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

nearly  every  State  of  the  Union.  From  a  long  series  of  such 
decisions  quotations  will  be  made  from  typical  opinions, 
rendered  in  four  of  our  American  States,  to  illustrate  the 
point  of  view  of  the  State. 

1.  New  York  State.  In  the  case  of  Gunnison  v.  The 
Board  of  Education  of  the  City  of  New  York,^  the  court 
said:  — 

It. is  apparent  from  the  general  drift  of  the  argument  that  the 
learned  counsel  for  the  defendant  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  employ- 
ment of  the  teachers  in  the  public  schools,  and  the  general  conduct 
and  management  of  the  schools,  is  a  city  function  in  the  same  sense 
as  it  is  in  the  care  of  the  streets,  or  the  employment  of  police,  and 
the  payment  of  their  salaries  and  compensation;  but  that  view  of 
the  relations  of  the  city  to  public  education,  if  entertained,  is  an 
obvious  mistake.  The  city  cannot  rent,  build,  or  buy  a  school- 
house.  It  cannot  employ  or  discharge  a  teacher,  and  has  no  power 
to  contract  with  teachers  with  respect  to  their  compensation. 
There  is  no  contract  or  official  relation,  express  or  implied,  between 
the  teachers  and  the  city.  All  this  results  from  the  settled  policy 
of  the  State  from  an  early  date  to  divorce  the  business  of  public 
education  from  all  other  municipal  interests  or  business,  and  to 
take  charge  of  it,  as  a  peculiar  and  separate  function,  through 
agents  of  its  own  selection,  and  immediately  subject  and  respon- 
sive to  its  own  control.  .  .  . 

In  the  case  of  Ridenour  v.  The  Board  of  Education  of  the 
City  of  Brooklyn, 2  the  court  said:  — 

...  He  is  an  employee  of  the  Board  of  Education.  It  is  not  a 
part  of  the  corporation  of  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  but  is  itself  a  local 
school  corporation,  like  every  board  of  school  trustees  throughout 
the  State,  and  is,  like  every  such  board,  an  integral  part  of  the 
general  school  system  of  the  State.  It  is  a  state  and  not  a  city 
agency,  doing  state  and  not  city  work  and  functions.  Education 
is  not  a  city,  village,  county,  or  town  business.  It  is  a  matter  be- 
longing to  the  State  Government.  From  its  comprehensive  founda- 
tion by  Chapter  75  of  the  Laws  of  1795  down  to  the  recent  codifica- 
tion of  our  school  laws,  our  state  system  of  education  has  remained 
a  consistent  whole.  The  present  Board  of  Education  of  the  City  of 
1  176  New  York,  13.  2  15  j^ew  York  Misc..  418. 


STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL         17 

Brooklyn  is  as  distinctly  a  part  of  that  whole  as  is  any  school 
district  in  the  State. 

£.  Indiana.  In  the  case  of  the  State  ex  rel.  Clark  et  al.  v. 
Haworth  ^  the  Supreme  Court,  in  deciding  the  constitu- 
tionality of  an  act  giving  to  the  State  Board  of  Education 
control  of  the  new  state  textbook  system,  said :  — 

Essentially  and  intrinsically,  the  schools  in  which  are  educated 
and  trained  the  children  who  are  to  become  the  rulers  of  the 
Commonwealth  are  matters  of  state,  and  not  of  local,  jurisdiction. 
In  such  matters  the  State  is  a  unit,  and  the  legislature  the  source 
of  power.  The  authority  over  schools  and  school  affairs  is  not 
necessarily  a  distributive  one,  to  be  exercised  by  local  instrumen- 
talities; but,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  central  power,  residing  in  the 
legislature  of  the  State.  It  is  for  the  lawmaking  power  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  authority  shall  be  exercised  by  a  state  board  of 
education,  or  distributed  to  county,  township,  or  city  organiza- 
tions throughout  the  State.  With  that  determination  the  judiciary 
can  no  more  rightfully  interfere  than  can  the  legislature  with  a 
decree  or  judgment  pronounced  by  a  judicial  tribunal.  .  .  . 

As  the  power  over  schools  is  a  legislative  one,  it  is  not  exhausted 
by  exercise.  The  legislature,  having  tried  one  plan,  is  not  precluded 
from  trying  another.  It  has  a  choice  of  methods,  and  may  change 
its  plans  as  often  as  it  deems  necessary  or  expedient;  and  for  mis- 
takes or  abuses  it  is  answerable  to  the  people,  but  not  to  the  courts. 
It  is  clear,  therefore,  that,  even  if  it  were  true  that  the  legislature 
had  uniformly  trusted  the  management  of  school  affairs  to  local 
organization,  it  would  not  authorize  the  conclusion  that  it  might 
not  change  the  system.  To  deny  the  power  to  change  is  to  affirm 
that  progress  is  impossible,  and  that  we  must  move  forever  "in  the 
dim  footsteps  of  antiquity."  But  the  legislative  power  moves  in  a 
constant  stream,  and  is  not  exhausted  by  its  exercise  in  any  num- 
ber of  instances,  however  great.  .  .  . 

3.  Illinois.  In  the  case  of  Speight  v.  The  People  ^  the 
court  held :  — 

All  laws,  whether  in  city  charters  or  elsewhere,  designed  to 
affect  free  schools,  may  be'  regarded  simply  as  school  laws.  And 
although  they  may  require  the  boundary  lines  of  cities  to  be 

1  23  New  England  Reporter,  946.  2  g?  Illinois,  595. 


18  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

adopted  as  lines  for  the  formation  of  school  districts,  and  that  city 
ofQcers  shall  perform  the  duties  of  school  oflacers,  yet  this  is  for 
convenience  only,  and  the  districts  thus  to  be  formed,  and  the 
officers  thus  required  to  perform  duties,  are  to  be  regarded  simply 
as  agencies  selected  by  the  State  to  provide  a  system  of  free 
schools.  Although  the  limits  and  officers  of  the  two  corporations 
are  the  same,  their  purposes  and  objects  are  different,  and  they  are, 
in  fact,  separate  and  distinct  corporations.  The  one  has  its  exist- 
ence and  is  limited  in  the  powers  it  may  exercise  by  its  charter, 
proper;  the  other  by  the  school  law. 

In  the  case  of  Potter  v.  Board  of  Trustees  ^  the  court 
held,  with  reference  to  the  powers  of  school  trustees :  — 

The  trustees  can  act  only  in  pursuance  of  law.  They  cannot  be 
compelled  to  act  unless  the  law  is  complied  with  in  every  sub- 
stantial particular;  nor  are  they  permitted  to  act,  until  it  is  so 
complied  with.  They  have  no  power  to  waive  anything  that  is 
necessary  to  compel  their  action.  They  may  not,  as  a  matter  of 
grace  or  favor,  take  territory  from  one  district  and  add  it  to 
another.  They  may  do  this  only  in  the  cases  provided  by  law,  and 
whatever  is  essential  to  be  done,  before  they  are  bound  to  act,  they 
must  require  before  they  do  act.  They  must  know  that  the  petition 
conforms  to  the  law  before  they  proceed. 

Jf.  California.  In  the  case  of  Kennedy  v.  Miller  ^  the 
supreme  court  said :  — 

The  City  of  San  Diego  is  a  corporation  distinct  from  the  cor- 
poration known  as  the  School  District  of  the  City  of  San  Diego, 
and  the  rights  and  obligations  of  the  school  district  corporation 
are  to  be  determined  by  the  provisions  of  the  Political  Code  of  the 
State,  and  not  by  those  of  the  charter  of  the  City  of  San  Diego; 
and  a  provision  of  its  charter,  that  all  moneys  belonging  to  the 
school  fund  of  the  city  shall  be  deposited  with  the  city  treasurer, 
does  not  supersede  the  requirement  of  the  Political  Code  that  all 
moneys  pertaining  to  the  public-school  fund  shall  be  paid  into  the 
county  treasury. 

The  legislative  declaration,  in  Section  1576  of  the  Political  Code, 
that  every  incorporated  city  is  a  school  district,  though  it  makes 
each  school  district  a  public  corporation,  does  not  import  into  the 

1  10  Appellate,  Illinois,  343.  2  97  California,  429. 


STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL         19 

organization  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  city  charter,  or  limit  the 
powers  and  functions  which,  as  a  school  district,  it  has  by  virtue 
of  the  Political  Code. 

These  clear  statements  of  state  policy  are,  however,  rel 
atively  recent  expressions  of  our  highest  courts,  and  rep- 
resent the  present  clearly  formulated  interest  of  the  State 
in  the  matter  of  public  education.  They  are  based  in  part 
on  the  fundamental  theory  as  to  the  nature  of  the  State 
itself,  in  part  on  the  now  well-estabKshed  American  prin- 
ciple that  "  the  whole  State  is  interested  in  the  education 
of  the  children  of  the  State,"  and  in  part  on  the  convic- 
tion that  the  State  cannot  leave  so  important  a  matter 
as  pubKc  education  to  the  whims  or  caprices  of  individual 
communities. 

Delegated  authority.  Ultimate  state  control,  however, 
does  not  of  necessity  involve  immediate  state  direction  and 
oversight  in  anything.  The  State  may  delegate  its  authority, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  to  the  subdivisions  it  creates  within 
itseK  for  purposes  of  local  administration.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  every  State  does  so,  though  some  do  it  to  a  much 
greater  extent  than  do  others. 

In  the  early  part  of  our  educational  history  the  delega- 
tion of  authority  to  the  subordinate  units  was  very  large. 
To  the  school  district,  in  particular,  the  delegation  in  some 
of  our  States  was  so  large  as  almost  to  prevent  the  develop- 
ment of  the  schools.  Indiana  offers,  perhaps,  an  extreme 
example  of  this,  though  in  many  other  States  the  delegation 
of  control  was  extensive.  By  the  Law  of  1833  the  district 
system  was  substituted  for  the  township  in  Indiana;  three 
trustees  were  to  be  elected  annually  for  each  school  district; 
taxes  could  not  be  assessed  on  any  householder  unless  he 
sent  his  children  to  school;  and  religious  and  private  schools 
shared  equally  with  the  state  schools  in  the  township  school 
funds.   In  1836  householders  were  permitted  to  make  indi- 


20  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

vidual  contracts  for  the  education  of  their  children,  and 
finally,  in  1841,  the  requirement  of  even  a  teacher's  certificate 
was  made  optional  with  the  district-school  trustees.  It  was 
not  until  1849  that  Indiana  enacted  legislation  which  began 
the  process  of  state  subordination  and  control. 

Massachusetts  also  offers  us  an  interesting  example 
among  the  older  States.  There  the  school  districts  were  en- 
dowed with  corporate  powers  in  1817,  and  in  1827  were  per- 
mitted to  select  their  trustees,  determine  the  textbooks  to 
be  used,  and  to  examine  and  certificate  their  teachers.  In 
the  days  when  there  were  practically  no  state  standards, 
almost  no  supervisory  officers,  no  normal  schools  or  trained 
teachers,  and  no  organized  body  of  educational  theory,  such 
delegation  of  authority  was  a  perfectly  natural  attitude  for 
the  State  to  assume.  The  rule  of  thumb  and  the  school  of 
practical  experience  guided  both  the  trustees  and  the  people 
in  the  management  of  their  schools. 

The  recovery  of  state  sovereignty.  As  a  state  conscious- 
ness as  to  the  needs  and  purposes  of  public  education  began 
to  develop  in  the  different  States,  legislation  began  to  be 
enacted  which  inaugurated  the  process  of  recovering  the 
original  sovereignty  of  the  State.  School  officers  were 
created  to  represent  the  State,  to  gather  statistics,  and  to 
oversee  and  advisv.  cts  to  the  establishment  of  schools  and 
the  carrying  out  of  the  laws;  state  aid  began  to  be  granted, 
or  was  increased,  and  with  state  aid  came  closer  state  over- 
sight and  control;  and  details  previously  left  to  local  initia- 
tive now  began  to  be  placed  under  the  control  of  officers 
representing  larger  administrative  units,  or  were  prescribed 
uniformly  for  all  by  general  state  law. 

This  movement  was  well  under  way  by  1850,  but  was 
checked  for  nearly  three  decades  by  the  discussion  preced- 
ing the  Civil  War,  the  war  itself,  and  the  period  of  recoverjl 
following  the  war.  After  about  1875  or  1880  the  moveinent 


STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL         21 

toward  a  greater  unification  and  control  of  the  different 
local  school  systems  went  forward  rapidly,  and  since  1900 
the  progress  of  the  movement  has  been  very  marked.  The 
process  has  been  one  of  the  transference  of  powers  from 
small  communities  to  larger  school  units,  in  the  interests  of 
greater  efficiency  in  school  administration.  The  school 
district  has  been  forced  to  surrender  powers  to  the  town- 
ship, the  township  in  turn  to  the  county,  and  the  county  to 
the  State. 

Examples  of  such  transference.  Examples  of  the  trans- 
ference of  powers  from  smaller  to  larger  units  of  adminis- 
tration are  abundant.  The  rights  of  parents  to  make  indi- 
vidual contracts  with  teachers;  to  determine  whether  or  not 
their  children  shall  go  to  school,  or  whether  or  not  they 
themselves  will  pay  school  taxes;  and  the  right  of  parents 
assembled  in  district  meeting  to  dictate  the  choice  of  the 
teacher,  or  to  say  whether  a  school  shall  be  maintained  this 
year  or  not,  are  examples  of  powers  originally  possessed  by 
parents,  but  which  the  State  has  now  completely  taken 
away.  The  right  of  the  school  trustees  of  the  district  to 
waive  the  requirement  of  a  teacher's  certificate,  or  to  certif- 
icate the  teacher  selected,  has  been  superseded  by  township 
or  county  certification,  and  this,  in  tm-n,  has  been  replaced 
in  many  States  by  the  requirement  for  all  of  uniform  state 
teachers'  certificates.  Uniformity  in  textbooks  and  courses 
of  study,  with  the  city,  the  county,  or  the  State  as  the  unit, 
has  displaced  the  earlier  plan  under  which  each  school  in 
such  matters  was  a  law  unto  itself.  Uniform  laws  relating 
to  length  of  term,  type  of  school  or  schools  which  must  be 
maintained,  subjects  of  instruction,  type  of  school-building, 
sanitary  conditions,  compulsory  attendance  of  children,  and 
taxes  which  must  be  raised,  have  likewise  superseded  the 
earlier  policy  of  leaving  each  district  full  authority  in  aU 
such  matters. 


22  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Such  legislation  has  naturally  gone  further  in  some  States 
than  in  others.  In  some  a  large  degree  of  local  control  and 
decentralization  is  still  the  rule;  in  others  the  centralization 
of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  State  has  become  so  great  as 
to  exert,  at  times,  a  cramping  and  stij&ing  influence  on  the 
progress  of  the  schools. 

Advantages  of  state  controL  State  control  of  public  in- 
struction has  many  advantages,  but  it  has  some  disadvan- 
tages as  well,  and  the  purpose  of  wise  educational  adminis- 
tration must  always  be  to  utilize  the  advantages  and  to 
minimize  the  disadvantages  as  much  as  is  possible.  As  a 
whole,  the  possible  advantages  greatly  outweigh  the  pos- 
sible disadvantages. 

One  of  the  chief  advantages  of  state  control  is  the  power 
of  the  State  to  determine  the  minimum  standards  to  be 
permitted,  and  to  formulate  a  constructive  educational 
policy.  Once  formulated,  the  State  can  see  that  this  policy 
is  carried  out.  The  educational  needs  of  the  State  may  thus 
be  considered  as  a  whole,  and  be  legislated  for  accordingly. 
What  the  State  deems  to  be  wise  for  its  children,  it  may 
require  communities  to  provide.  If  any  community  is  too 
poor  to  meet  the  legitimate  demands  of  the  State,  the  obli= 
gation  then  naturally  rests  upon  the  State  to  help  such 
community  to  comply  with  its  demands. 

In  making  education  a  state  rather  than  a  district  or  a 
municipal  function,  the  State  can  also  prevent  local  civil 
governments  from  overlooking  or  slighting  this  "  major 
claim."  Regardless  of  what  may  be  needed  by  the  patron- 
age departments  of  poHce,  fire,  water-front,  and  streets, 
the  State  can  prevent  the  neglect  of  public  education,  in 
the  perpetual  city  struggle  for  appropriations,  by  giving  the 
school  authorities  power  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the 
schools  independently  of  the  city  governmental  authorities. 
If  cities  or  other  communities  do  not  provide  properly  for 


STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL         23 

their  children,  the  State  may  even  order  that  proper  pro- 
vision must  be  made. 

In  introducing  uniformity  where  uniformity  is  desirable? 
as,  for  example,  in  the  certification  of  teachers;  in  directing 
the  extension  of  educational  advantages  to  its  children,  as, 
for  example,  in  the  provision  of  high  schools  or  vocational 
education;  in  requiring  a  longer  school  term,  or  better 
financial  support;  or  in  standardizing  classroom  construc- 
tion or  sanitary  demands,  —  state  oversight  and  control 
may  render  very  valuable  service.  Often  the  needs  and 
rights  of  children  can  only  be  properly  safeguarded  by  the 
intervention  of  the  State  itself,  and  this  it  should  have  th^ 
power  to  do  when  neglect  is  clearly  evident. 

Disadvantages  of  state  control.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
ease  with  which  interested  parties  —  citizens,  teachers,  or 
organizations  —  can  go  to  the  legislature  of  the  State  and 
secure  school  legislation  which  some  local  board  of  control 
has  refused  to  grant,  —  such  as  life-tenure  for  teachers  or 
the  imposition  of  some  bad  administrative  form  or  condi- 
tion, and  which  may  be  inimical  not  only  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  schools  of  the  community  concerned  but  perhaps 
also  to  other  communities  in  the  State,  —  is  an  example  of 
the  disadvantages  of  state  control. 

Another  serious  disadvantage,  unless  carefully  guarded 
against  in  legislation,  is  the  infliction  upon  large  and  pro- 
gressive school  communities  of  a  cramping  uniformity  and 
standardization,  adopted  either  with  the  needs  of  smaller  or 
average-type  school  communities  largely  in  mind,  or  from  a 
desire  to  standardize  administration  and  make  it  easier  to 
direct.  Nearly  all  of  the  substantial  progress  which  has  been 
made  in  pubhc  education  has  first  been  made  by  some  city 
school  system,  free  to  act  in  carrying  out  and  testing  a  new 
idea,  and  such  freedom  in  any  worthy  line  the  State  should 
be  very  careful  to  safeguard.    In  some  of  our  American 


24  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

States  state  uniformity,  particularly  in  matters  of  text- 
books, courses  of  study,  and  character  of  instruction,  has  al- 
ready gone  too  far  for  the  best  interests  of  the  schools. 

The  State's  proper  functions.  Up  to  a  certain  point, 
varying  somewhat  in  different  States  and  with  the  type  of 
school  maintained,  state  oversight  and  control  are  desirable. 
Too  much  liberty  may  mean  weakness  and  lack  of  coordina- 
tion rather  than  strength.  la  such  matters  as  methods  of 
bookkeeping  and  accounting,  uniform  fiscal  years,  and  uni- 
form statistical  returns,  the  State  should  prescribe  such  a 
degree  of  uniformity  as  will  produce  intelligent  and  com- 
parable returns.  In  all  such  matters  as  types  of  schools 
which  must  be  maintained,  length  of  school  term,  education 
and  certification  of  teachers  for  the  schools,  the  supervi- 
sion of  instruction,  building  and  sai.  :ary  standards,  forms 
and  rates  of  taxation,  term  for  com^  ulsory  attendance,  and 
child-protection  laws,  it  is  essentially  the  business  of  the 
State  to  determine  the  minimum  standards  which  the  State 
will  permit  in  any  school,  or  in  the  schools  of  any  type  or 
group  into  which  the  State  may  see  fit  to  classify  the  schools 
for  purposes  of  organization  or  administration.  It  is  also 
the  right  and  duty  of  the  State  to  raise  these  minima,  from 
time  to  time,  as  changing  conditions  or  new  educational 
demands  may  seem  to  require  or  as  larger  finances  will  per- 
mit. To  do  so  will  frequently  involve  reciprocal  obligations 
on  the  part  of  the  State  toward  certain  of  its  communities, 
but  such  the  State  must  expect  and  prepare  to  meet. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  charged  with  the  administration 
of  public  education  ought  carefully  to  guard  against  un- 
necessary uniformity  in  non-essentials,  or  a  uniformity 
which  may  tend  to  stifle  the  higher  educational  activity  of 
any  progressive  community.  This  is  a  constant  danger  in 
any  State  as  the  centralization  of  control  proceeds.  Uni- 
formity in  means  and  ends  makes  administration  more 


STATE  AUTHORIZATION  AND  CONTROL         25 

machine-like  and  hence,  to  the  ordinary  executive,  easier 
to  handle.  Uniformity,  too,  appeals  strongly  to  certain 
types  of  minds,  and  is  often  pushed  into  non-essentials  and 
to  a  degree  that  is  both  irritating  and  unnecessary.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  too  great  a  uniformity  is  always 
most  cramping  and  deadening  on  the  school  systems  most 
capable  of  making  substantial  educational  progress.  Be- 
tween the  two  extremes  the  State's  greatest  service  to  its 
communities  and  to  itself  may  be  rendered. 

A  state  educational  policy.  It  ought  to  be  essentially  the 
business  of  the  State  to  formulate  a  constructive  policy  for 
the  development  of  the  education  of  the  people  of  the  State, 
and  to  change  this  policy  from  time  to  time  as  the  changing 
needs  of  the  State  may  seem  to  require.  This  may  involve 
more  than  the  mere  regulation  of  schools,  and  may  properly 
include  such  educational  agencies  and  efforts  as  hbraries, 
playgrounds,  health  supervision,  and  adult  education.  In- 
stead of  being  a  passive  tax-gatherer  and  lawgiver,  the 
State  should  become  an  active,  energetic  agent,  working 
for  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  social  improvement  and 
advancement  of  its  people.  The  formulation  of  minimum 
standards  for  the  various  forms  of  public  education,  the 
raising  of  these  standards  from  time  to  time,  the  protection 
of  these  standards  from  being  lowered  by  private  agencies, 
and  the  stimulation  of  communities  to  additional  educa- 
tional activity,  is  a  fundamental  right  and  duty  of  the  State. 
On  the  other  hand,  to  find  what  can  safely  be  left  to  local 
initiative  and  control,  and  then  to  pass  this  down,  ought 
to  be  as  much  a  function  of  proper  state  school  administra- 
tion as  is  the  removal  from  community  control  of  matters 
which  communities  cannot  longer  handle  with  a  reasonable 
degree  of  effectiveness.  Unity  in  essentials  and  liberty  in 
non-essentials,  as  high  minimum  standards  for  all  as  is 
possible,  constant  stimulation  to  communities  to  exceed  the 


26  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

minima  required,  and  large  liberty  to  communities  in  the 
choice  of  methods  and  tools  and  in  the  extension  of  educa- 
tional advantages  and  opportunities,  ought  to  be  cardinal 
principles  in  a  State's  educational  policy  and  in  its  relations 
to  its  subordinate  governmental  units. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  DISCUSSION 

1.  Does  the  reasoning  of  Secretary  Hill  appeal  to  you  as  sound?  I^  not,  in 
what  way  is  it  weak? 

2.  Have  you  any  legal  decisions  in  your  State  in  which  the  question  of  the 
unity  of  the  State's  educational  system  was  involved?  If  so,  what  was 
the  point  in  question,  and  the  nature  of  the  decision? 

3.  To  what  extent,  in  your  State,  is  the  State's  authority  in  educational 
matters  centralized,  and  to  what  extent  delegated?  List  up,  in  parallel 
columns,  a  number  of  matters  in  which  the  State's  authority  is  (a)  cen- 
tralized, and  (6)  delegated. 

4.  Does  centralization  of  authority  of  necessity  mean  uniformity  in  proce- 
dure? Should  it?  If  not,  how  may  such  be  avoided? 

5.  To  what  extent  do  you  seem  to  have  a  conscious  state  educational  policy 
in  your  State,  and  what  is  its  nature? 

6.  What  recent  legislation  have  you,  in  your  State,  which  illustrates  the 
advantages  of  state  control? 

7.  The  tendency,  in  the  New  England  States,  is  for  the  State  to  become 
the  unit  in  educational  administration.  What  peculiar  advantages 
would  follow  state  unification  in  educational  control  there? 

8.  Illustrate  what  is  meant  by  the  State  establishing  minimum  require- 
ments. 

9.  What  reciprocal  obligations  are  likely  to  be  met  when  a  State  increases 
the  required  length  of  school  term? 


CHAPTER  III 

STATE  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

Evolution  of  forms  of  control.  To  carry  out  this  more  or 
less  clearly  conceived  and  defined  state  educational  policy, 
each  of  our  American  States  has  evolved  some  form  or  type 
of  state  administrative  organization  and  control.  The  form, 
scope,  and  powers  of  such  a  state  organization  vary  greatly 
in  the  different  States,  there  being  as  yet  no  standard  type. 
The  evolution  has  been  so  recent,  and  is  still  so  clearly  in  the 
process  of  further  development,  that  but  few  of  our  States 
have  at  this  time  reached  anything  like  a  settled  or  per- 
manent form  of  administrative  organization.  Everywhere, 
though,  we  find  the  State  the  unit,  with  a  corresponding 
state  educational  organization  of  some  type  and  degree  of 
effectiveness;  everywhere,  outside  of  New  England  and 
Nevada,  the  county  is  also  a  more  or  less  important  admin- 
istrative unit  to  assist  the  State  in  administering  and  direct- 
ing the  educational  system;  and  within  the  county  we  find 
towns,  townships,  cities,  districts,  or  subdistricts,  estab- 
lished by  the  State  with  a  view  to  assisting  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  system  of  public  education  maintained. 

Chief  state  school  officer.  A  common  feature  of  each  of 
our  American  state  school  systems,  and  including  Porto 
Rico,  Hawaii,  and  the  Philippines,  is  the  election  or  appoint- 
ment of  a  chief  state  school  officer,  who  is  charged  with 
certain  definite  and  many  indefinite  functions.  Prominent 
among  the  definite  functions  are  certain  clerical  and  statis- 
tical duties,  specified  in  the  school  laws  of  the  State;  the 
preparation  and  distribution  of  blanks,  for  various  pur- 
poses; the  interpretation  and  enforcement  of  the  laws  relat- 


28  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

ing  to  schools;  and,  where  there  is  also  a  state  board  of  edu- 
cation, that  of  executing  policies  which  have  been  decided 
upon  by  the  board.  The  title  of  this  officer  varies  somewhat, 
though  that  of  "  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  " 
is,  at  present,  most  frequently  employed.  Such  titles  as 
"  superintendent  of  common  schools,"  "  superintendent  ctf 
free  schools,"  '*  superintendent  of  education,"  and  "  secre- 
tary of  the  state  board  of  education  "  are  also  used  by  some 
of  our  States.  In  the  recent  reorganizations  the  tendency 
has  been  to  substitute  the  term  "commissioner  of  educa- 
tion" for  these  older  designations,  as  being  a  title  more 
expressive  of  the  gradually  enlarging  functions  of  the  chief 
state  educational  office. 

The  office  an  evolution.  Like  practically  all  other  features 
of  public  education  with  us,  the  office  of  chief  state  school 
officer  has  been  an  evolution.  The  first  State  to  create  such  an 
educational  officer  was  New  York,  which  appointed  a  super- 
intendent of  common  schools  in  1812.  After  nine  years, 
however,  the  office  was  aboKshed,  and  the  secretary  of  state 
acted  ex  officio  as  superintendent  of  schools  until  1854, 
when  the  office  of  superintendent  of  pubhc  instruction  was 
created.  This  official  was  displaced  by  an  appointed  com- 
missioner of  education  in  1904.  Maryland  provided  for  a 
superintendent  of  pubhc  instruction  in  1826,  but  in  1828 
the  office  was  aboHshed  and  was  not  re-created  until  1868. 
Vermont  provided  for  a  rudimentary  type  of  state  school 
official  in  1827,  but  abohshed  the  office  in  1833,  and  did  not 
re-create  it  until  1845. 

The  first  State  to  maintain  continuously  such  a  state 
official  was  Michigan,  which  created  the  office  of  superin- 
tendent of  common  schools  in  1829.  In  1836  the  title  was 
changed  to  "  superintendent  of  public  instruction,"  and  as 
such  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  The  creation  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education  in  1837,  with  an 


STATE  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  29 

appointed  secretary  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  was  an  event  of  much  importance,  and 
gave  a  decided  impetus  to  the  movement  for  the  creation  of 
a  chief  state  school  officer  in  each  of  the  States.  By  1850 
every  Northern  State  and  some  of  the  Southern  States  had 
either  provided  for  such  an  officer  or  had  designated  some 
other  state  officer  to  act,  ex  officio,  as  such.  Most  of  the 
new  States  to  the  westward  created  the  office  early  in  their 
territorial  period,  and  all  of  the  Southern  States  provided 
for  such  an  official  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 

Duties  of  such  an  official.  During  the  early  period  of  our 
educational  history  the  duties  of  such  a  state  officer  were 
almost  entirely  clerical,  statistical,  and  exhortatory.  To 
look  after  the  school  lands,  so  far  as  they  were  under  his 
control;  to  tabulate  and  edit  the  statistical  returns  required 
from  the  towns,  townships,  or  districts;  to  compile  an  annual 
or  a  biennial  statistical  report;  to  apportion  the  state  aid, 
as  directed  by  law;  and  to  visit  the  different  parts  of  the 
State,  stimulating  teachers  and  school  officers,  and  exhort- 
ing the  people  to  estabhsh  or  add  to  their  schools,  consti- 
tuted almost  entirely  the  duties  of  the  early  state  superin- 
tendents of  schools. 

Since  that  time  many  new  duties  have  been  added.  The 
decision  as  to  controverted  points  in  the  school  laws;  the 
recommendation  of  courses  of  study,  textbooks,  and  library 
books;  the  supervision  of  finances  in  the  educational  sub- 
divisions of  the  State;  the  issuance  and  revocation  of  teach- 
ers' certificates;  the  visitation  and  conduct  of  teachers' 
institutes;  the  recommendation  of  desirable  changes  in  the 
school  laws;  the  publication  of  special  bulletins;  the  inspec- 
tion and  accrediting  of  schools;  and  the  serving,  ex  officio, 
on  various  educational  boards  may  be  mentioned  as  among 
the  more  important  of  the  newer  duties  of  the  office. 

New  demands  for  leadership.  Within  the  past  decade  or 


30  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

two,  with  the  rapidly  enlarging  conception  as  to  the  place 
and  importance  of  public  education  with  us,  new  ideas  as 
to  the  nature  of  the  chief  state  educational  office  have  been 
pushed  to  the  front.  The  continued  transference  of  func- 
tions and  duties  from  smaller  to  larger  administrative  units; 
the  gradual  extension  of  state  oversight  and  control;  the 
addition  of  new  judicial  and  administrative  functions;  the 
demand  for  real  educational  leadership  in  matters  of  instruc- 
tion, administration,  sanitation,  child  welfare,  training  of 
teachers,  agricultural  and  vocational  education,  and  school 
legislation  have  all  alike  tended  to  increase  the  importance 
of  the  office  and  to  demand  a  new  type  of  chief  state  school 
officer.  The  exhorter  and  the  institute  worker  have  come 
to  be  needed  less  and  less,  the  student  and  administrator 
more  and  more. 

State  boards  of  education.  Another  somewhat  common 
feature  of  our  state  educational  organizations  is  a  state  board 
for  educational  control,  usually  known  as  a  "  state  board  of 
education."  The  first  state  board  for  educational  purposes 
was  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  created  in  1784,  and  which  has  continued  down 
to  the  present.  Organized  at  first  primarily  for  the  manage- 
ment of  Colunibia  College,  new  duties  and  functions  have 
from  time  to  time  been  added  until  the  board  has  finally 
evolved  into  a  strong  state  board  of  education  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  school  system  of  the  State,  executing  its  decisions 
through  an  appointed  commissioner  of  education  and  a 
staff  of  assistant  commissioners  and  inspectors.  Two  other 
States  ^  provided  for  a  rudimentary  form  of  state  educa- 
tional board  before  1837,  in  which  year  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts created  the  first  real  state  board  of  education,  in 
the  modern  sense  of  the  term. 

^  North  Carolina  in  1825,  which  was  continued  to  1832,  and  Vermont 
in  1827,  but  which  was  abolished  in  1835. 


STATE  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  31 

By  1852  five  other  States  ^  had  created  state  boards  of 
education,  of  one  type  or  another,  though  few  of  them  were 
at  first  entrusted  with  any  important  functions.  The  care 
of  the  school  lands  and  the  advising  of  the  chief  state  school 
officer  constituted  the  most  important  duties  of  such  boards 
in  most  of  the  States.  The  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Education  was  given  the  most  power,  was  the  most  active, 
and  did  the  most  to  show  the  advantages  of  such  an  organi- 
zation. The  story  of  the  life  and  work  of  Horace  Mann,^ 
from  1837  to  1849,  is  largely  the  story  of  the  educational 
revival  in  Massachusetts  and  the  formulation,  for  the  nation 
as  well  as  for  Massachusetts,  of  the  principles  of  state  over- 
sight, advice,  and  control. 

Since  1852  a  number  of  other  States  have  created  some 
form  of  state  educational  board,  and  the  creation  or  recon- 
struction of  others  has  been  recommended  by  a  number  of 
state  educational  commissions.  Not  all  of  our  States  as  yet 
have  such  a  body. 

Types  of  state  boards.  Four  types  of  state  boards  of  edu- 
cation exist  in  our  different  American  States. 

One,  and  the  most  rudimentary  and  unsatisfactory  type, 
is  a  state  board  of  education  composed,  ex  officio,  of  state 
officers.  ^  Elected  as  such  men  have  been  for  other  purposes 
than  educational  control,  and  with  httle  knowledge  of,  or 
interest  in,  public  education,  such  boards  cannot,  with 
safety,  be  entrusted  with  any  important  administrative 
functions  relating  to  public  education.  Such  boards  are 
usually  superseded  by  a  better  form  of  organization  when- 

1  Connecticut  in  1839  (abolished  in  1842  and  re-created  in  1865),  Ken- 
tucky in  1838,  Arkansas  in  1843,  Ohio  in  1850,  and  Indiana  in  1852. 

2  See  particularly  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  Horace  Mann  and  the  Common  School 
Revival  in  the  United  States. 

*  The  state  board  of  education  in  Missouri  is  illustrative  of  this  type, 
being  composed,  ex  officio,  of  the  governor,  the  secretary  of  state,  the 
attorney-general,  and  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction. 


32  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

ever  any  large  degree  of  educational  control  is  entrusted  td 
a  board  representing  the  State. 

Another  type  of  state  board  is  one  composed  entirely  of 
school  officers,  often  designated  for  service  on  the  repre- 
sentative principle/  and  created  on  the  theory  that,  since 
educational  matters  are  technical  and  require  expert  knowl- 
edge, only  school  men  who  have  risen  to  important  educa- 
tional positions  are  competent  to  handle  them.  The  chief 
defects  of  such  boards  He  in  that  the  persons  designated  are 
usually  so  busy  with  the  work  of  their  own  cities  or  institu- 
tions that  they  give  little  attention  to  the  larger  problems 
of  the  educational  system  of  the  State,  and  that  the  chief 
functions  of  such  boards  should  be  to  govern  and  not  to 
execute,  and  for  this  expert  educational  knowledge  is  not 
fundamentally  necessary.  Combinations  of  these  two  types 
of  boards,  forming  the  third  type,  are  also  found  in  a  few  of 
our  States.^ 

The  fourth  type  of  a  state  board  of  education  is  the  small 
appointed  board,  composed  of  citizens  of  the  State,  acting 
as  a  board  of  directors  of  a  corporation  would  act  and  exer- 
cising general  control  over  the  educational  system  of  the 
State,  but  acting  through  the  appointed  executive  officers 
of  the  board.  Such  forms  a  true  board  of  educational  con- 
trol, and  represents  the  most  desirable  type  of  state  educa- 
tional board  which  we  have  so  far  evolved. 

1  The  Indiana  state  board  of  education  represents  this  type,  being  com- 
posed of  the  governor,  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  State  University,  the  president  of  Purdue  University,  the  pres- 
ident of  the  State  Normal  School,  and  the  superintendents  of  city  schools 
in  the  three  largest  cities  of  the  State,  ex  officio,  together  with  one  county 
superintendent  of  schools  and  two  other  persons  actively  engaged  in  edu- 
cational work,  to  be  designated  by  the  governor,  for  three-year  terms. 

2  Virginia  illustrates  such  a  combination,  the  state  board  of  education 
there  being  composed  of  the  governor,  the  attorney-general,  and  the  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction,  ex  officio,  and  three  educators,  elected  by 
the  legislature  from  a  list  of  eligibles  submitted  by  the  boards  of  trustees 
of  the  different  state  educational  institutions. 


STATE  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  33 

Good  state  educational  organization.  Within  the  past 
decade  certain  rather  clearly  marked  tendencies  have  be- 
come manifest  with  us  in  the  matter  of  state  educational 
organization.  The  recent  legislative  reorganizations  in  a 
number  of  our  States  ^  have  followed,  in  the  main,  one 
direction.  This  has  been  the  creation  of  small  appointed 
state  boards  of  education  composed  of  representative  citi- 
zens of  the  State,  and  substituting  such  boards  for  the 
former  ex  officio  types  of  boards;  the  change  of  the  chief 
state  school  ojfficer  from  a  popularly  elected  state  official 
and  clerk  into  an  expert  executive  officer  and  adviser  of  the 
state  board  of  education,  and  selected  and  appointed  by 
it;  and  a  marked  increase  in  the  powers  and  duties  of  both 
the  state  board  of  education  and  its  executive  officers,  with 
a  view  to  evolving  a  real  state  board  for  educational  over- 
sight and  control. 

The  position  of  chief  state  school  officer  under  a  good  form 
of  state  educational  organization  is,  potentially,  a  more  im- 
portant position  than  that  of  the  presidency  of  the  state 
university  of  the  State,  and  the  recent  legislative  reorgan- 
izations have  been  in  the  direction  of  making  it  actually 
become  such.  The  school  business  of  any  of  our  large  Amer- 
ican States  has  by  now  evolved  into  a  very  important  state 
undertaking,  costing  the  people  of  the  State  millions  of 
dollars  annually  to  maintain,  and  as  such  it  should  be 
placed  under  a  form  of  management  and  control  dictated 
by  the  best  American  experience  in  city  and  corporation 
management.  What  these  are  we  shall  set  forth  in  Part  II 
of  this  volume. 

The  problem  at  hand.  The  problem  at  hand  is  how  best  to 
create  a  state  educational  organization  capable  of  handling 

1  For  example.  New  York  in  1904;  Massachusetts  in  1909;  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Arkansas,  and  Oklahoma  in  1911;  and  California  and  Idaho 
in  1913. 


S4  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  State's  educational  business  and  problems  in  a  really 
large  way.  The  present  very  Hmited  and  politically  organ- 
ized state  educational  departments  cannot  much  longer 
continue  to  try  to  handle  the  situation.  With  an  efficient 
state  department  of  education,  organized  along  lines  cal- 
culated to  insure  large  and  intelligent  service,  and  manned 
by  a  number  of  properly  qualified  expert  executive  officers, 
many  functions  now  handled  rather  poorly  by  local  officials 
and  subordinate  administrative  units  could  and  should  be 
transferred  to  state  control.  Conversely,  with  an  efficient 
reorganization  of  subordinate  administrative  units,  as  we 
shall  point  out  further  on,  certain  functions  now  exercised 
by  the  State  could  be  passed  down  to  these  subordinate 
units  to  handle,  and  as  local  needs  might  seem  to  require. 
The  real  problem  is  how  to  secure  greater  administrative 
efficiency  without  interfering  with  local  initiative  and  im- 
pairing local  administrative  efficiency. 

QUESTIONS   FOR   INVESTIGATION  AND   DISCUSSION 

t.  Classify  the  duties  of  the  chief  state  school  officer  in  your  state  under 
the  headings  of  (a)  Administrative,  (6)  Supervisory,  (c)  Clerical  and 
Statistical,  and  (d)  Judicial. 

2.  How  much  real  power  has  he,  under  each  head? 

3.  What  new  demands  have  come  on  the  office  in  your  State  during  the  past 
decade? 

4.  If  there  is  a  state  board  of  education  in  your  State,  of  what  type  is  it? 

5.  What  powers  and  duties  are  entrusted  to  it? 

6.  Is  there  any  clear  distinction  between  legislative  and  executive  functions 
in  its  work? 

7.  Illustrate  what  is  meant  by  "unity  in  essentials  and  liberty  in  details  in 
the  attainment  of  results,  and  liberty  in  plan,"  as  applied  to  state  edu- 
cational supervision  and  control. 

8.  In  what  way  is  the  position  of  chief  state  school  officer  potentially  a 
more  important  one  than  that  of  president  of  the  state  university? 


CHAPTER  IV 

COUNTY  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

The  county  in  school  administration.  All  of  our  American 
States  are  subdivided  into  counties,  for  purposes  of  local 
administration.  As  an  administrative  unit  the  county  is 
least  important  in  New  England,  and  most  important  in 
the  West  and  South.  ^  The  size  of  the  county  varies  greatly, 
being  smallest  in  the  South  and  largest  in  the  West,  though, 
due  to  the  greater  sparsity  of  population  in  the  West,  the 
county  there  can  hardly  be  said  to  have,  as  yet,  attained  its 
ultimate  size.  In  the  better  settled  portions  of  the  United 
States  an  area  from  350  to  600  square  miles  represents  the 
usual  size.  ^ 

As  a  subordinate  division  of  the  State  for  the  administra- 
tion of  the  educational  system  maintained  by  direction  of 
the  State,  we  find  the  county  in  all  stages  of  evolution  from 
practically  nothing  to  an  important  administrative  unit. 
In  New  England  and  Nevada  attempts  to  make  use  of  the 
unit  for  purposes  of  school  administration  have  been  aban- 
doned. In  New  England  the  county  unit,  so  Httle  used  there 

1  In  New  England  the  county  is  used  for  little  except  judicial  purposes, 
while  in  the  West  and  South  it  forms  a  natural  unit  for  the  management  of 
almost  all  phases  of  the  county's  business. 

2  For  example,  the  average  size  of  the  counties  in  Maryland  is  415  square 
miles;  Virginia,  402  square  miles;  Georgia,  389  square  miles;  Alabama, 
765  square  miles;  Ohio,  463  square  miles;  Indiana,  392  square  miles;  Illi- 
nois, 549  square  miles;  Nebraska,  835  square  miles;  Colorado,  1728  square 
miles;  Utah,  3044  square  miles;  and  California,  2684  square  miles.  In  other 
words.  Eastern  and  Southern  counties  vary  from  20  by  20  miles  square  to 
25  by  30  miles  square,  while  Western  counties  run  from  40  by  40  to  60 
by  60  miles  square.  Yet  in  the  West  the  county  is  extensively  used  as  an 
administrative  unit. 


36  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

for  any  administrative  purpose,  was  given  up  as  an  educa- 
tional unit  decades  ago  in  favor  of  the  smaller  town.^  In 
Nevada,  due  to  the  sparsity  of  population,  the  county  unit 
was  abandoned  for  the  larger  unit  of  a  group  of  counties 
united  to  form  a  state  supervisory  district,  under  the  super- 
vision of  an  assistant  state  superintendent.  ^  In  all  other 
American  States  we  find  the  county  as  a  more  or  less  im- 
portant educational  subdivision  of  the  State,  extending 
from  the  weak  county  and  strong  district  combination,  as 
found  in  Missouri,  to  the  county  as  the  unit  of  organization 
and  administration,  as  found  in  Maryland.  Between  these 
two  extremes  all  forms  or  stages  in  the  development  of 
county  control  are  to  be  found. 

Evolution  of  a  county  school  officer.  As  education  began  to 
evolve  into  a  state  interest  in  our  country,  the  need  for  de» 
veloping  some  subordinate  form  of  state  control  became 
evident.  The  school-land  sections  needed  to  be  looked  after 
by  some  person  representing  the  larger  interest  of  the  State; 
the  local  school  officials  needed  supervision,  to  see  that  they 
maintained  schools  as  required  by  the  laws,  and  that  the 
school  moneys  were  properly  levied  and  spent;  an  agent  to 
collect  statistical  information  for  the  State  and  to  act  as  a 
means  of  communication  between  the  State  and  the  school 
districts  became  more  and  more  desirable;  and,  often  most 
important  of  all,  an  agent  of  the  State  was  needed  to  stimu- 
late a  local  interest  in  schools,  and  to  help  and  inspire  teach- 
ers in  their  work  of  instruction. 

Hence  a  county  school  officer,  known  as  a  county  super- 
intendent of  education,  a  county  school  superintendent, 

*  An  irregular  area  of  from  20  to  40  square  miles. 

2  There  are  at  present  five  such  officers  for  the  entire  State  of  Nevada. 
Nevada  has  an  area  practically  the  same  size  as  that  of  New  York  and  the 
six  New  England  States  combined,  but  only  about  as  many  teachers  are 
employed  in  the  entire  State  as  are  employed  in  such  a  city  as  Fall  River» 
Massachusetts. 


COUNTY  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         37 

or  a  county  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  was  grad- 
ually provided  for,  sometimes  by  amendment  of  or  during 
a  revision  of  the  constitution  of  the  State,  and  sometimes 
by  statute  laws.  Sometimes,  too,  the  office  was  gradually 
evolved  out  of  some  other  county  office,  such  as  auditor,  or 
treasurer,  or  probate  judge.^  In  Iowa  and  in  some  of  the 
Southern  States  the  office  evolved  cut  of  the  presidency  or 
executive  officer  of  the  county  board  of  education,  an  or- 
ganization which  in  some  States  preceded  the  county  super- 
intendency.  In  New  York  and  Michigan,  too,  the  township 
superintendency  preceded  the  county  superintendency.  The 
office  of  county  superintendent  of  schools  began  about  1835, 
and  by  about  1870  was  common  in  most  of  the  older  States. 
In  the  newer  States  to  the  west  the  office  was  frequently 
created  in  the  territorial  period. 

Early  duties  of  the  office.  Everywhere,  at  first,  the  county 
superintendent  was  to  a  very  large  degree  a  clerical  and 
statistical  officer,  representing  the  State  in  the  carrying  out 
of  a  state  purpose,  and  serving  as  a  means  of  communication 
between  the  State  on  the  one  hand  and  the  school  districts 
of  the  county  on  the  other.  He  recorded  changes  in  district 
boundary  lines;  apportioned  the  income  from  funds  to  the 
districts;  saw  that  the  teacher  employed  possessed  a  teach- 
er's certificate;  collected  figures  as  to  expenditures,  attend- 
ance, etc.,  and  reported  the  same  for  his  county  to  the 
State;  visited  the  schools  and  advised  trustees  and  teach- 

^  Illinois  and  Indiana  represent  the  process  fairly  well.  In  1835,  in  Illi- 
nois, the  office  of  county  land  commissioner  was  created  to  look  after  the 
school  lands;  in  1845  some  educational  functions,  and  the  title  of  ex  officio 
superintendent  of  schools  were  added;  and  in  1855  the  position  of  county 
superintendent  was  created.  In  Indiana  a  county  school  commissioner  was 
created  in  1835  to  look  after  the  school  lands,  as  in  Illinois;  in  1841  the 
duties  were  transferred  to  the  county  auditor,  and  he  was  made  ex  officio 
a  county  school  officer;  in  1853- a  county  examiner  of  teachers  was  created, 
and  the  school  functions  of  the  auditor  transferred  to  him;  and  in  1873  the 
position  of  county  superintendent  of  schools  was  created. 


38  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

ers;  and  exhorted  the  people  to  provide  for  and  extend  their 
schools. 

His  duties  were  simple  and  required  no  professional  train- 
ing or  skill;  so  election  from  among  the  body  of  the  elector- 
ate, and  for  short  terms,  with  as  frequent  changes  in  the 
office  as  in  the  case  of  any  other  county  officer,  early  be- 
came the  established  method  for  securing  this  official. 
Officially  he  represented  the  State;  actually  he  represented 
the  people.  The  method  of  nomination  from  among  the 
electorate  of  the  county,  and  election  by  popular  vote,  es- 
tablished early,  has  been  followed  by  the  new  States  to  the 
west,  and  was  carried  into  some  of  the  Southern  States 
in  the  period  of  Reconstruction  following  the  Civil  War. 
Despite  a  number  of  changes  which  have  since  been  made, 
the  elective  method  remains  to-day  the  most  common  plan 
for  selecting  the  superintendent  of  education  for  our 
counties. 

New  and  changed  duties.  After  the  office  of  county  super- 
intendent of  education  had  become  established,  new  duties 
began  to  be  entrusted  to  this  new  official.  Some  of  these 
new  duties  were  passed  down  from  the  State  above,  in  the 
form  of  a  delegation  of  authority;  others  were  gathered  up 
from  below,  by  taking  the  powers  away  from  the  districts. 
Most  of  the  new  powers  have  come  from  the  gathering-up 
process,  the  districts  being  gradually  deprived  of  more  and 
more  of  their  early  power  and  authority,  in  the  interests  of 
the  more  efficient  education  of  the  children  of  the  districts 
concerned.  Examples  of  such  transference  of  powers  and 
authority  have  been  cited  in  Chapter  II. 

As  the  result  of  a  long  process  of  transference,  extending 
over  more  than  haK  a  century,  the  office  of  the  county  super- 
intendent of  schools  has  to-day,  in  many  of  our  American 
States,  evolved  into  an  office  of  large  potential  importance, 
and  the  county  superintendent  has  become  a  general  over- 


COUNTY  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         39 

seer  of  education,  representing  the  State.  The  county,  too, 
has  become,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  the  different 
States,  an  important  subordinate  unit  for  the  administration 
and  control  of  the  State's  system  of  public  instruction.  In 
all  clerical  and  business  matters  the  county  superintendent, 
or  some  clerk  acting  for  him,  acts  as  a  county  supervising 
officer  for  all  records  and  business  matters  concerning  the 
schools  within  the  county.  In  professional  matters  the  super- 
intendent commonly  acts  as  the  chief  educational  officer  of 
the  county,  determining  largely  what  is  to  be  done.  Unhke 
other  county  officers,  his  functions  are  only  in  part  cleri- 
cal and  routine;  and  if  he  is  to  render  the  highest  service  he 
must  be  a  professional  leader  rather  than  an  office  clerk. 
It  might  almost  be  said  that  his  real  effectiveness  as  a  county 
superintendent  is  determined  by  how  far  he  is  able  to  sub- 
ordinate office  routine  to  real  professional  leadership.  While 
much  of  his  work  must  be  at  the  county  seat,  his  real  work, 
nevertheless,  must  be  out  in  the  schools  of  his  county. 

New  demand  for  educational  leadership.  Perhaps  the 
most  marked  change  which  has  come  in  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding the  office  of  county  superintendent  of  schools, 
within  the  past  two  decades,  has  been  the  marked  increase 
in  the  demand  for  the  exercise  of  professional  functions.  The 
effect  has  been  to  inaugurate  a  movement  which  will,  in 
time,  effect  important  changes  in  the  office  of  county  super- 
intendent of  schools.  The  rapidly  rising  demand  for  real 
professional  supervision  for  the  rural  schools,  supervision 
that  is  close,  personal,  and  adequate,  and  the  many  move- 
ments for  the  improvement  of  rural  education,  which  have 
been  brought  to  the  front  so  prominently  within  the  past 
ten  years,  are  expressions  of  this  changing  conception  as  to 
what  the  office  ought  to  be  and  what  the  officer  ought  to 
do.  The  yearly  visit  of  a  politically  elected  county  educa- 
tional officer  no  longer  suffices;  what  is  needed  now  is  the 


40  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

close  oversight  and  direction  of  an  expert  in  village  and 
rural  education,  —  one  possessed  of  imagination,  breadth  of 
view,  and  expert  technical  and  professional  knowledge. 
Everywhere  our  rural  and  small  town  schools  are  calling  for 
educational  leadership  and  for  professional  supervision  of  a 
new  type,  but  this  cannot  come,  in  most  cases,  until  there 
is  a  marked  change  in  the  nature  of  the  county  educational 
office.  Of  what  this  change  should  consist,  and  the  nature  of 
the  new  functions  and  duties  which  should  be  developed,  we 
shall  point  out  more  in  detail  in  Part  III,  after  we  have  first 
considered  the  problem  of  administering  and  supervising 
school  systems  in  our  cities. 

County  boards  of  controL  In  a  number  of  our  American 
States  some  form  of  county  board  for  school  control,  com- 
monly known  as  a  "county  board  of  education,"  has  been 
created  by  law  and  with  a  view  to  carrying  out  better  the 
State's  educational  purpose  in  establishing  schools.^  To 
such  boards  either  consultative  powers  or  additional  edu- 
cational functions  have  been  entrusted,  with  a  view  to  im- 
proving the  administration  of  the  system  of  schools  within 
the  counties. 

Some  of  these  boards  are  quite  rudimentary  in  type,  as, 
for  example,  county  high-school  boards  of  Nevada,  whose 
sole  function  is  to  act  as  a  board  of  control  for  the  county 
high  school,  should  such  an  institution  exist.  The  ex  officio 
boards  of  county  textbook  commissioners  in  Iowa  or  South 
Dakota,  whose  one  function  is  to  adopt  textbooks  for  use  in 
the  counties,  also  represent  another  rudimentary  type.  The 
county  boards  of  examiners,  found  in  many  of  our  States, 
and  whose  function  is  to  examine  and  certificate  teachers 

1  In  a  number  of  Southern  States  such  boards  preceded  the  provision 
for  a  county  superintendent  of  education,  such  officer  frequently  being 
evolved  out  of  the  presidency  of  such  a  board,  or  being  selected  by  it  to  act 
as  its  agent  and  executive  officer.  Iowa  and  Delaware  represent  the  former 
method;  Georgia  and  Louisiana,  the  latter. 


COUNTY  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         41 

for  the  counties,  represent  another  type  of  county  board  for 
partial  school  control.  The  county  boards  of  education 
of  Cahfornia/  which  examine  and  certificate  teachers  for 
the  schools,  examine  pupils  for  graduation  and  issue  di- 
plomas, make  the  courses  of  study,  and  approve  supple- 
mental books  and  apparatus  for  purchase  by  the  districts, 
represent  a  still  higher  degree  of  county  board  control. 

In  addition  to  such  rudimentary  or  partially  developed 
county  boards,  a  few  of  our  States  have  also  provided  for 
the  appointment  or  election  of  real  county  boards  of  educa- 
tion, boards  which  exercise  functions  analogous  to  those  ex- 
ercised by  city  boards  of  education.  In  a  few  of  the  States 
having  such  boards  they  exercise  a  coordinating  and  super- 
vising authority  over  the  different  school  districts  of  the 
county;  in  a  few  others  they  have  reached  their  full  logical 
development,  and  direct,  in  conjunction  with  the  county 
superintendent  of  education,  the  schools  of  the  whole  county, 
much  as  a  city  board  of  education  and  a  city  superintendent 
of  schools  direct  the  schools  of  a  city.  Where  the  full  logical 
development  has  been  attained,  the  school  districts  naturally 
have  been  subordinated  to  county  oversight  and  control. 
Maryland  and  Utah  offer  good  examples  of  such  develop- 
ment. 

The  educational  problem  involved.  The  problem  now  be- 
fore our  American  States  is  what  form  or  forms  of  county 
education  organization  will  secure  for  the  rural  and  small 
town  schools  of  the  State  the  best  educational  administra- 
tion and  the  closest,  most  ejBPective,  and  most  highly  pro- 
fessional supervision.  The  rural-life  problem,  which  has 
developed  within  the  past  two  decades  and  which  is  now 

'  Composed  of  the  county  superintendent  of  schools,  ex  officio,  as  secre- 
tary, and  four  others  appointed  by  the  board  of  county  supervisors,  three 
of  whom  must  hold  teachers'  certificates.  These  are  boards  of  school  men, 
exercising  largely  professional  functions. 


42  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

forcibly  demanding  attention,  is  fundamentally  a  problem 
of  educational  reorganization,  and  the  rural  schools  of  our 
States  are  badly  in  need  of  such  an  educational  reorganiza- 
tion and  redirection  as  will  enable  them  to  render  a  dis- 
tinctively larger  service  to  the  communities  in  ^hich  they 
are  located.^  J 

These  reorganizations  and  reconstructions  call  for  con- 
structive educational  leadership  of  a  new  type,  and  the 
changing  of  the  county  to  a  more  important  unit  for  the 
administration  of  the  system  of  public  instruction  which 
the  State  has  seen  fit  to  organize  and  to  maintain  is  one  of 
the  important  steps  in  that  direction.  The  county  super- 
visory system  is  weak  in  almost  all  of  our  Northern  and 
Western  States,  partly  because  of  the  poKtical  nature  of  the 
office  of  the  chief  county  school  officer,  partly  because  the 
clerical  rather  than  the  professional  functions  predominate, 
partly  because  county  boards  of  control  of  the  right  type 
have  not,  as  yet,  been  developed,  and  partly  because  of  the 
large  powers  still  granted  to  subordinate  educational  units 
within  the  county.  Under  a  good  form  of  county  educational 
organization  the  possibiUties  for  helpful  and  constructive 
service  are  very  large,  and  the  office  of  county  superintend- 
ent of  education  will,  in  time,  become  an  office  of  large 
importance,  attracting  to  the  position  many  of  the  best- 
trained  men  engaged  in  educational  work.  Before  indicating 
how  this  may  be  accomplished,  however,  we  wish  first  to 
pass  to  a  brief  consideration  of  these  smaller  educational 
administrative  units,  and  then  to  a  somewhat  detailed  con- 
sideration of  the  organization,  administration,  and  prob- 
lems of  one  type  of  these  units. 

*  In  another  volume  in  this  series.  Rural  Life  and  Education,  the  author 
has  set  forth  this  rural-life  problem  at  much  greater  length  and  has  pointed 
out  the  means  necessary  for  its  solution. 


COUNTY  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION         43 


QUESTIONS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  DISCUSSION 

1.  To  what  extent  is  the  county  an  educational  unit  in  your  State? 

2.  How  and  when  did  the  county  school  officer  evolve  in  your  State? 

3.  Is  the  method  at  present  followed  in  your  State  for  securing  this  officer 
satisfactory,  or  not?  If  not,  what  changes  in  method  would  you  suggest? 

4.  List  up  some  of  the  powers  and  duties  that  have  been  transferred  from 
the  districts  to  the  county  educational  authority. 

5.  Classify  the  duties  of  the  chief  school  officer  of  your  county  under  the 
headings  of  (a)  Administrative,  (6)  Supervisory,  (c)  Clerical  and  Statis- 
tical; and  (d)  Judicial. 

6.  How  much  real  power  has  he,  under  each  head? 

7.  If  the  district  system  flourishes  in  your  State,  how  do  the  powers  of 
the  county  superintendent  compare  with  those  of  a  board  of  district 
trustees? 

8.  If  there  is  a  county  board  of  education  in  your  State,  in  what  stage  of 
development  is  it,  judged  by  its  powers? 

9.  How  far  are  the  powers  which  it  exercises  helpful  and  stimulating  to 
the  schools,  and  how  far  restrictive  and  imintelligently  uniform? 

10.  How  much  of  an  attempt  has  been  made,  in  your  State,  to  reach  the 
rural-life  problem  through  educational  reorganizations  and  redirections? 

11.  Illustrate  some  of  the  new  demands  for  leadership  on  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

12.  Compare  rural   and  city  school  supervision  as   to  adequacy  and 
effectiveness. 


CHAPTER  V 

TOWN,  TOWNSHIP,  AND  DISTRICT  ORGANIZATION 

County  subdivisions  for  administration.  In  a  few  of  our 
States,  as  has  been  mentioned,  the  county  has  been  made 
the  unit  for  educational  administration,^  but  in  most  of  our 
States  the  county  is  still  further  subdivided  into  smaller  ad- 
ministrative units  for  the  more  detailed  administration  of 
the  State's  educational  system.  These  smaller  administra- 
tive units  are  towns  in  New  England,  townships  in  the 
North-Central  States,  and  school  districts  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union  outside  of  New  England.  Each  of  these  smaller  units 
also  represents  the  State,  in  a  small  locality,  in  the  carrying 
out  of  the  State's  educational  purpose;  each  is  entrusted 
with  more  or  less  limited  powers,  and  is  charged  with  more 
or  less  important  duties;  and  each,  except  in  New  England 
and  Nevada,  reports  through  the  county  unit  to  the  State, 
and  is  in  turn  in  part  directed  in  its  work  by  the  county 
educational  authorities.  We  shall  next  consider  these  sub- 
ordinate units,  and  in  the  above  order. 

The  town.  The  town  is  a  pecuHarly  New  England  insti- 
tution, though  the  term  is  also  applied  to  similar  subdivisions 
in  New  Jersey.  A  New  England  town  is  irregular  in  shape, 
following  hills,  water-courses,  or  old  roads.  In  size  it 
contains,  as  a  rule,  from  twenty  to  forty  square  miles.  The 
New  England  town  thus  has  natural  geographic  boundaries, 

1  That  is,  all  schools  in  the  county,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  large 
cities,  are  under  the  management  and  control  of  one  county  board  of  edu- 
cation, which  employs  the  superintendent  of  schools  and  directs  the  general 
work  of  organizing  the  schools.  In  Georgia  the  central  city  is  a  part  of  the 
county  organization.  See  map  on  page  51  for  the  county-system  States. 


TOWN,  TOWNSHIP,  AND  DISTRICT  45 

and  as  a  result  commonly  embraces  a  natural  center  for  a 
community  life.  The  term  "town"  is  applied  to  all  of  the 
area  included  within  the  civil  government,  and  may  include 
farmland,  suburban  residence  districts,  villages,  and  even  a 
small  city.^ 

The  educational  affairs  of  each  town  are  managed  as  a 
unit  by  one  town  school  committee,  elected  by  the  people 
of  the  whole  town,  and  all  of  the  schools  of  the  town  — 
city,  village,  and  rural  —  are  under  its  control.  For  super- 
vision each  town  in  Massachusetts,  and  to  a  certain  extent 
in  the  other  New  England  States  as  well,  separately  or  in 
conjunction  with  one  or  more  other  more  or  less  contiguous 
towns,  must  employ  a  superintendent  of  schools  who  de- 
votes his  time  to  the  work  of  supervision,  ^  and  who  acts  as 
the  executive  officer  of  the  school  committee  or  committees. 
A  superintendent  in  Massachusetts  thus  presides  over  a 
small  and  compact  school  system,  either  a  city  school  system 
or  a  small  county  school  system  in  type.  ^  To  a  large  degree 

1  A  New  England  town  is  thus  somewhat  like  a  Western  township,  ex- 
cept in  form,  though  the  use  of  the  term  "town"  is  quite  different  in  the 
two  parts  of  the  country. 

2  All  towns  in  Massachusetts  must  employ  a  superintendent  of  schools. 
Of  the  354  towns  and  cities  in  the  State,  119  employ  a  superintendent  alone, 
while  the  remainder  unite  with  other  towns  to  employ  such  an  oiEcer. 
There  are  74  union  superintendencies  in  the  State,  —  20  of  2  towns  each, 
25  of  3  towns,  26  of  4  towns,  2  of  5  towns,  and  1  of  6  towns.  The  Massa- 
chusetts idea  of  compulsory  supervision  is  being  extended  rapidly  to  the 
other  New  England  States. 

3  Supervisory  Union  No.  64  (in  Essex  County),  and  the  city  of  Newton, 
in  Massachusetts,  illustrate  these  two  types  well. 

Union  No.  64  is  composed  of  the  four  towns  of  Merrimac,  Newbury, 
Salisbury,  and  West  Newbur5\  The  total  population  of  the  four  towns  is 
approximately  6800,  the  combined  area  about  57  square  miles,  and  the 
number  of  teachers  employed  39,  for  the  34  different  schools.  This  is  es- 
sentially a  small  rural  county. 

Newton,  on  the  other  hand,  with  a  population  of  approximately  40,000, 
an  area  of  18  square  miles,  maintaining  25  schools  and  employing  315 
teachers  (1915),  is  essentially  a  city  school  system. 

Many  such  examples  may  be  found  in  the  different  New  England  States. 


46  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  problems  of  organization  and  administration  in  New 
England  are  the  problems  of  either  a  city  or  a  county  school 
system  to  the  westward.  Instead  of  reporting  through  a 
county  educational  ojQficer,  and  being  subject  in  part  to  his 
oversight,  these  towns  report  directly  to  the  state  educa- 
tional authorities. 

Marked  features  of  the  town  system.  Perhaps  the  most 
marked  feature,  as  well  as  perhaps  the  most  commendable 
single  feature,  of  the  New  England  town  system  for  school 
control,  is  the  organization  of  all  of  the  schools  —  rural, 
village,  and  city  —  of  the  geographical  area  known  as  a 
town  under  one  school  board,  one  superintendent,  and  one 
administrative  organization.  The  school  districts  within 
the  towns,  which  once  existed  generally  throughout  New 
England,  and  which  did  more  to  ruin  the  efficiency  of  the 
schools  of  the  towns  than  any  other  single  feature,  have 
everywhere  been  entirely  abandoned,^  and  town  school 
control  has  been  substituted  in  their  stead.  So  far  as  district 
lines  still  remain  they  exist  merely  to  classify  and  regulate 
the  school  attendance. 

All  children  in  the  different  schools  of  the  town  are  pro- 
vided with  an  equal  length  of  term,  high  schools  and  special- 
school  advantages  are  open  equally  to  all,  special  subjects 
of  instruction  and  special  supervision  go  to  all  schools,  the 
school  property  is  all  under  one  board  of  control,  and  the 
cost  of  maintaining  the  school  system  of  the  towns  is  spread 
equally  over  the  property  of  the  entire  town.  The  schools 
of  the  whole  geographical  area  known  as  the  town  are  man- 
aged as  a  unit,  just  as  the  schools  of  a  city  elsewhere  are 
a  unit  for  maintenance,  administration,  and  supervision. 
This,  and  the  natural  character  of  the  town  boundaries, 
are  two  of  the  most  important  advantages  which  the  New 

1  See  map  on  page  51  for  dates  of  the  final  abandonment  of  the  district 
system. 


TOWN,  TOWNSHIP,  AND  DISTRICT  47 

England  town  possesses  over  the  Western  township  form  of 
school  organization. 

The  township.  The  township  system  of  the  North-Central 
group  of  States  is  a  somewhat  similar  but  less  well-developed 
form  of  school  organization,  and  may  be  regarded  as  an  imper- 
fect adaptation  of  the  earher  New  England  town  system  to 
the  newer  States  of  the  Central  West.  Like  the  New  Eng- 
land town  system,  the  Western  township  form  of  school 
organization  attempts  to  provide  for  the  systematic  organi- 
zation and  administration  of  the  educational  affairs  of  a 
whole  township  under  one  responsible  board,'-  elected  by 
the  people  to  manage  the  schools,  and  with  the  idea  of  secur- 
ing something  of  the  same  efficiency  in  educational  adminis- 
tration which  characterizes  a  New  England  town.  As  a  sub- 
ordinate unit  for  educational  administration  it  is  greatly 
superior  to  the  still  smaller  school  district  which  it  has  gen- 
erally displaced.  A  better  equalization  of  both  the  oppor- 
tunities and  the  advantages  of  education  are  provided  under 
it  than  under  the  smaller  district  unit,  and  it  is  more  effi- 
cient and  economical  as  well.  In  the  matter  of  providing 
high-school  facilities  for  rural  communities  the  township, 
in  the  upper  IMississippi  Valley,  has  rendered  particular 
service. 

Disadvantages  of  the  township  unit.  The  chief  disadvan- 
tages of  the  Western  township  unit  lie  in  its  rectangular  out- 
lines, its  lack  of  adaptability  to  natural  community  bound- 
aries, the  exemption  of  the  central  towns  from  township 
control,  and  its  fixed  area,  —  too  large  for  some  purposes, 
and  much  too  small  for  others. 

Instead  of  following  natural  geographical  boundaries,  de- 
fined in  outline  by  natural  community  lines,  and  varying  in 

^  Usually  a  board  of  three  or  five,  but  in  Indiana  the  schools  are  under 
the  control  of  the  same  one  township  trustee  who  looks  after  roads,  bridges, 
and  poor-relief  for  the  township. 


48 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


size  to  meet  local  needs,  as  do  the  New  England  towns,  the 
Western  township  boundaries  run  straight  across  the  coun- 
try, following  the  points  of  the  compass,  and  bear  no  relation 
to  natural  geographical  features  or  to  possible  community 
boundaries.  The  area,  too,  which  is  six  miles  square  every- 
where west  of  east  central  Ohio,  has  too  often  in  the  past 
proved  too  large  a  unit  for  purposes  of  school  organization. 
In  the  future,  with  better  developed  means  of  transporta- 
tion, it  is  likely  to  prove  too  small. 


Fro. 


NEW  ENGLAND  TOWNS  AND  WESTERN  TOWNSHIPS 
COMPARED 


Essex  County,  Mass.  Area  497  sq.  miles, 
34  towns. 


Huntington  County,  Ind.   Area 
386  sq.  miles.   12  townships. 


The  difference  is  well  shown  in  the  two  counties  drawn 
in  the  above  figure.  These  differences  in  size  and  shape 
and  area,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  township  form  of 
organization  is  unadapted  to  rough  country,  are  distinct 
weaknesses  of  the  Western  township  unit. 

Almost  nowhere  do  we  find  the  township  unit  in  simple 
and  well-defined  form.  Even  in  Indiana,  which  represents 
perhaps  the  best  example  of  the  township  form  of  school 
administration,  the  unity  of  the  township  is  nearly  every- 
where broken  into  by  the  exemption  of  the  central  incor- 


TOWN,  TOWNSHIP,  AND  DISTRICT  49 

porated  town  or  city  from  any  close  connection  with  the 
township  educational  organization. i  In  financial  matters, 
in  particular,  the  central  town  or  city  is  largely  or  wholly 
independent.  This  fundamental  difference  from  the  New 
England  town  system  of  school  administration,  where  a 
unified  school  organization  is  the  rule,  is  another  distinctly 
weak  feature  of  the  Western  township  unit  for  school  organ- 
ization and  control. 

The  township  unit  not  fundamentally  necessary.  The 
county  oversight  and  control  in  the  North-Central  States, 
which  is  absent  in  New  England,  is  also  another  important 
difference  between  the  town  system  of  New  England  and 
the  township  system  under  discussion.  The  towns  of  New 
England  deal  directly  with  the  State,  as  there  are  no  county 
educational  authorities;  the  townships  of  the  North-Central 
States  deal  primarily  and  directly  with  the  county  educa- 
tional authorities,  and  only  secondarily  and  indirectly  with 
the  State.  This  difference  makes  the  township  unit  much 
less  necessary  for  school  administration  in  the  West  than  is 
the  town  in  New  England. 

Like  the  town  in  New  England,  the  township  marked  a 
distinct  advance  over  the  school-district  unit  which  gener- 
ally preceded  it,  but,  as  will  be  pointed  out  in  a  later  chapter 
(Part  III),  better  administrative  conditions  could  now  be 
provided  in  most  of  our  States  if  all  fixed  administrative 
units,  smaller  than  the  county,  were  displaced  by  making 
the  county  the  educational  unit,  and  then  organizing  within 
the  county,  and  as  the  changing  necessities  of  education 
might  seem  to  require,  flexible  and  changeable  administra- 
tive groupings  to  meet  local  conditions  and  needs. 

The  school-district  unit.  The  rise  and  spread  of  the  dis- 

*  That  is,  the  central  village,  as  soon  as  it  comes  to  possess  any  property, 
is  permitted  to  set  itself  off  as  a  separate  school  district,  and  to  become 
financially  and  educationally  independent  of  the  township. 


50  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

trict  unit  for  school  organization  and  administration  has 
been  traced  briefly  in  Chapter  I.  It  was  the  natural  unit  in 
the  beginnings  of  our  school  systems.  It  was  particularly 
adapted  to  a  time  of  little  general  interest  in  public  educa- 
tion, before  the  period  of  state  and  county  school  ofl&cers 
and  a  developed  administrative  organization,  and  among 
agricultural  communities  with  but  few  means  of  communi- 
cation and  but  little  interest  in  one  another.  It  was  well 
adapted,  too,  to  the  days  of  small  things,  and  to  schools  which 
gave  instruction  only  in  the  rudiments  of  an  education. 

Originating  in  New  England,  and  as  a  part  of  the  process 
of  disintegration  of  the  earlier  town  government,  it  spread 
to  the  westward  and  to  the  south,  and  firmly  established 
itself  before  conditions  were  ripe  for  any  other  unit  of  or- 
ganization. The  result  is  that  to-day,  after  nearly  all  the 
conditions  which  gave  rise  to  the  district  form  of  organiza- 
tion have  passed  away,  and  when  new  social  and  educational 
needs  are  almost  imperatively  demanding  a  larger  and  a 
better  unit  for  rural-school  organization  and  administration 
and  a  different  type  of  school,  the  little  district  unit  is 
tenaciously  clung  to  by  the  rural  people  of  many  of  our 
States,  and  largely  because  they  remember  its  earlier  ad- 
vantages and  are  bhnd  to  its  present  defects. 

Bad  features  of  the  district  unit.  As  a  unit  for  school 
organization  and  maintenance  the  district  system  has  been 
condemned  by  educators  for  fifty  years,  and  the  educational 
conditions  existing  in  any  State  to-day,  so  far  as  they  relate 
to  rural  and  village  education,  are  in  large  part  to  be  deter- 
mined by  how  far  the  State  has  proceeded  along  the  line  of 
curtailing  the  powers  of  the  district-school  officials  and  trans- 
ferring their  functions  to  county  and  state  educational  au- 
thorities, or  of  entirely  abandoning  the  district  system  of 
school  organization  and  administration.  The  map  on  the 
opposite  page  shows  the  use  of  the  different  units  of  school 


52  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

organization  and  administration  in  the  different  American 
States. 

The  district  unit  is  no  longer  so  well  adapted  to  meet 
present  and  future  educational  needs  as  are  other  units  of 
larger  scope.  District-school  authorities  are  usually  short- 
sighted, and  often  fail  to  see  the  real  need^  of  the  schools 
under  their  control.  The  large  number  of  district-school 
trustees  required  —  an  army  of  thirty  to  forty-five  thou- 
sand in  an  average  well-settled  State  —  in  itseK  almost  pre- 
cludes the  possibility  of  securing  any  large  proportion  of 
competent  and  efficient  men.  The  district  unit  is  entirely 
too  small  an  area  in  which  to  provide  modern  educational 
facilities,  and  the  difficulty  of  securing  cooperative  action 
of  the  trustees  of  a  number  of  adjacent  districts  for  a  larger 
and  a  better  school  is  a  difficulty  that  is  almost  insuperable. 

As  a  system  for  school  administration  the  district  system 
is  expensive,  inefficient,  inconsistent,  short-sighted,  unpro- 
gressive,  and  penurious;  it  leads  to  a  great  and  an  un- 
necessary multiplication  of  small  and  inefficient  schools;  the 
trustees  frequently  assume  authority  over  matters  which 
they  are  not  competent  to  handle;  it  leads  to  marked  in- 
equalities in  schools,  terms,  and  educational  advantages; 
and  it  stands  to-day  as  the  most  serious  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  the  consolidation  of  rural  schools.  Most  of  the  prog- 
ress that  has  been  made  in  rural  education  within  the  past 
two  decades  has  been  made  without  the  support  and  often 
against  the  opposition  of  the  district-school  trustees  and 
the  people  they  represent. 

District  system  not  necessary.  To  have  a  fully  organ- 
ized board  of  school  trustees  for  every  Uttle  schoolhouse  in 
the  county,  —  a  board  endowed  by  law  with  corporate  rights 
and  important  financial  and  educational  powers,  —  is  wholly 
unnecessary  from  either  a  business  or  an  educational  point 
of  view.   In  fact,  it  is  just  such  boards  which  impede  pro- 


TOWN,  TOWNSHIP,  AND  DISTRICT  53 

gressive  action  and  stand  as  the  most  effective  block  in  the 
road  of  real  educational  progress.  As  a  means  for  providing 
for  the  establishment  of  schools  the  district  system  has 
rendered  its  service,  and  there  is  to-day  httle  call  for  the 
continuation,  in  any  great  numbers,  of  the  kind  of  schools 
which  the  district  system  brought  into  existence  and  nour- 
ished through  the  critical  period  of  the  infancy  of  our  state 
educational  systems.  The  real  progress  of  rural  social  life 
and  social  institutions  to-day  depends  upon  the  organiza- 
tion, for  country  people,  of  an  entirely  different  type  of 
rural  school. 

A  fundamental  reorganization  needed.  What  is  needed 
is  a  fundamental  reorganization  and  redirection  of  rural 
and  small  village  education,  and  along  lines  which  will  trans- 
form such  schools  into  more  useful  social  institutions.* 
This,  however,  can  be  accomplished  only  by  some  authority 
of  larger  scope  and  insight  than  the  district-school  trustee, 
and  by  the  application  to  the  problem  of  a  larger  type  of 
administrative  experience  than  that  represented  by  district 
control.  In  New  England  this  is  in  process  of  accomplish- 
ment by  the  town,  or  the  grouping  of  towns,  acting  under 
the  educational  oversight  of  the  State.  Elsewhere  the 
county  seems  the  natural  unit  for  this  reorganization.  In 
Part  III  we  shall  point  out  the  many  advantages  which  the 
county  possesses  for  this  purpose,  and  lay  down  the  funda- 
mental principles  which  should  govern  sound  county  edu- 
cational organization. 

Before  doing  this,  however,  we  wish  first  to  consider  the 
special  administrative  problems  of  one  important  form  of 
the  school  district,  concerning  which  we  have  so  far  said 

1  Of  what  this  reorganization  and  redirection  is  to  consist,  and  why  it  is 
needed,  has  been  set  forth  in  the  author's  Rural  Life  and  Education,  which 
see.  The  legal  form  which  such  a  reorganization  needs  to  follow  has  been 
set  forth  in  the  author's  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization,  which 
also  see. 


54  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

but  little,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  what  the  administra- 
tive experience  of  this  form  of  school  district  has  been,  and 
how  far  this  administrative  experience  may  be  applied  gen- 
erally to  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  county  educational 
organization  and  administration,  which  everywhere  present 
themselves,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  to  the  problems  of*" 
state  educational  organization  and  administration  as  well. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  is  the  organization  of  all  the  schools  of  a  town  —  rural,  village, 
and  city  —  under  one  board  of  control  a  distinct  educational  advantage? 

2.  Assuming  that  the  chief  reason  for  the  segregation  of  the  villages  and 
cities  in  the  West  has  been  the  financial  one,  why  is  its  continuance 
unwise?   How  might  this  stimulus  to  segregation  be  eliminated? 

3.  How  does  the  township  unit  provide  for  a  better  equalization  of  the  op- 
portunities and  advantages  of  education  than  does  the  district  unit? 

4.  From  the  figure  on  page  48  point  out  the  advantages  of  the  New  Eng- 
land town  over  the  Western  township  in  the  matter  of  boundaries. 

5.  What  is  the  value  of  the  common  argument  for  the  school  district,  — 
that  it  is  the  most  democratic  of  our  units  for  government,  and  has  been 
very  valuable  in  training  our  citizenship  in  the  institutions  of  democ- 
racy? 

6.  Why  has  the  movement  for  the  consolidation  of  schools  made  but  little 
headway,  and  why  is  it  likely  to  make  but  little  headway  in  the  future, 
in  any  strong  district-system  State? 

7.  Take  the  figures  for  any  district-system  State  and  calculate  the  number 
of  trustees  needed  to  manage  the  schools.  Try  to  estimate  the  unnec- 
essary duplication  of  effort  and  the  waste  in  administration  resulting 
from  such  a  number  of  people  working  at  the  same  task. 

8.  Under  a  rational  reorganization  of  the  educational  affairs  of  a  county, 
with  good  consolidated  schools  replacing  the  many  district  schools, 
about  what  percentage  of  the  present  teaching  force  would  be  needed 
to  conduct  the  elementary  schools?  What  effect  would  such  consoli- 
dated schools  have  on  the  extension  of  educational  advantages? 

9.  In  a  number  of  States  an  attempt  has  recently  been  made  to  educate 
trustees  as  to  their  duties  by  an  annual  institute.  Of  about  what  value 
is  this  ? 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 

The  city  district  a  special  case.  The  special  form  of  school 
district  which  we  wish  first  to  consider  is  that  of  the  city 
school  district,  —  a  form  which  presents  a  very  different  type 
of  problems  from  that  of  the  rm'al  or  small  village  district. 
It  is  of  com-se  true  that  the  city  school  district  is,  in  a  sense, 
only  a  country  or  a  village  school  district  grown  large;  but, 
by  reason  of  its  very  size,  the  character  of  its  population, 
the  complexity  of  its  interests,  and  its  pecuUar  needs  and 
problems,  it  represents  a  form  of  school  district  which  should 
be  given  special  powers  and  be  treated  somewhat  as  a  spe- 
cial case.  Still  more,  cities  of  different  size  present  quite 
different  problems  in  organization  and  administration,  —  a 
city  of  fifty  thousand  people  having  quite  different  condi- 
tions and  needs  from  those  of  a  city  of  five  thousand,  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  from  those  of  a  city  of  half  a  million  popula- 
tion. Even  two  cities  of  approximately  the  same  size,  say 
one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  each,  may,  due  to  very 
different  social,  economic,  and  racial  needs,  present  quite 
different  educational  problems  for  solution. 

While  necessarily  a  part  of  the  state  educational  organi- 
zation, city  school  districts  nevertheless  represent  special 
as  well  as  somewhat  individual  problems,  to  which  uniform 
standards  and  mass  requirements  cannot  be  applied  if  the 
best  educational  results  are  to  be  expected.  The  minimum 
standards  of  the  State  for  such  districts  the  city  school  dis- 
tricts should  of  course  be  expected  to  meet,  but  large  free- 
dom should  be  given  cities  in  exceeding  the  state  minima, 


56  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  in  the  choice  of  the  tools  and  methods  by  which  they 
are  to  accompHsh  the  required  educational  results. 

The  city  district  an  evolution.  In  the  beginnings  of  our 
school  systems  there  were  but  few  cities,  and  nearly  all 
schools  were  rural  schools.  With  the  growth  of  our  popula- 
tion, and  with  the  increasing  tendency  of  our  people  to  con- 
gregate together  in  centers,  certain  areas  or  places  increased 
in  population  much  more  rapidly  than  did  others.  Rural 
school  districts  developed  into  villages,  villages  into  small 
cities,  and  small  cities  into  large  ones.^  As  the  community 
grew,  the  number  of  small  ungraded  one-teacher  schools 
was  multiplied,  and  later  these  were  collected  together  into 
larger  buildings,  and  into  a  more  or  less  graded  school  or 
group  of  graded  schools.  Still  later  a  public  high  school  was 
organized.  The  school  principal  was  evolved,  and  later  on 
the  supervising  principal  or  superintendent.  At  first  the 
number  of  school  districts  was  multiplied,  without  unifying 
the  schools.  Later,  when  unification  was  effected,  the  board 
of  trustees  frequently  was  increased  in  size,  either  by  the 
addition  of  new  members  for  the  new  schools  or  the  new 
areas  annexed,  or  by  the  subdivision  of  the  rising  city  into 
wards  and  the  election  of  one  or  more  members  to  the  board 
from  each  ward.  The  title  of  the  board  was  also  changed, 
in  the  process  of  development,  from  that  of  the  "  board  of 
school  trustees,"  or  "  school  directors,"  to  that  of  "  city 
board  of  education,"  and  the  school  laws  of  the  State  now 
granted  to  the  new  board  enlarged  powers  in  the  adminis- 
tration and  control  of  the  schools.  Most  of  our  city  school 
districts  have  had  such  an  educational  history.^ 

1  This  is  in  a  way  illustrated  by  the  growth  of  the  central  city  in  Figs.  1 
and  2,  on  pages  6  and  7. 

2  The  city  of  Buffalo  illustrates  the  process  fairly  well.  The  first  school- 
house  was  erected  in  1806.  This  was  burned  in  1813,  and  the  first  tax  for 
an  educational  purpose  levied  by  Buffalo  was  in  1818,  for  the  purpose  of 
rebuilding  this  school-building.  By  1832  the  growth  of  the  city  had  been 


THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  67 

Recent  rapid  growth  of  city  school  systems.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  about  1850  or  1860,  and  one  might  almost 
say  until  after  about  1870,  that  the  special  problems  of  city 
school  organization  and  administration  began  to  attract  se- 
rious attention.  In  the  first  place,  there  were  but  few  cities 
at  an  earher  date,  and  these  were  relatively  small  in  size.^ 

such  that  six  small  school  districts,  each  with  one  small  schoolhouse  and 
one  teacher,  had  been  organized  within  its  confines.  Even  in  1837,  when 
a  new  law  permitted  the  appointment  of  a  city  superintendent  of  schools 
to  coordinate  and  oversee  the  schools,  there  were  but  seven  districts  and 
seven  teachers,  so  that  his  duties  must  have  been  very  light.  On  the  full 
estabUshment  of  the  free-school  system,  in  1839,  the  number  of  districts  was 
increased  to  fifteen  and  a  school  ordered  established  in  each,  with  a  central 
school  for  instruction  in  the  higher  English  branches. 

The  schools  of  Chicago  present  a  somewhat  similar  history.  The  first 
pubhc  school  was  opened  in  1830,  and  by  1835  the  school  system  consisted 
of  five  school  districts,  each  with  its  own  board  of  district-school  trustees, 
each  of  which  employed  teachers,  levied  taxes,  and  built  buildings.  In 
1851  the  power  to  employ  teachers  was  taken  from  the  district  trustees,  of 
which  there  were  now  seven  boards,  and  in  1853  the  position  of  city  super- 
mtendent  of  schools  was  created,  to  grade  the  schools  and  to  introduce  order 
and  unity  into  the  system. 

The  present  city  of  Redlands,  in  southern  California,  oflFers  a  good  modem 
case  of  a  similar  nature.  Three  country  school  districts  happened  to  abut 
at  the  place  where  this  city  began  to  grow.  Each  district  was  under  the 
control  of  a  special  board  of  three  district-school  trustees,  and  each  main- 
tained a  small  rural  school.  In  time  the  schools  increased  from  one-room 
schools  to  many-room  schools,  and  a  principal  was  employed  by  each 
board.  The  three  districts  later  united  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and 
maintaining  a  high  school,  but  retained  their  separate  identity  as  ele- 
mentary-school districts.  The  three  elementary-school  principals  evolved 
into  supervising  principals,  as  the  schools  grew.  They  met  together  and 
made  a  gentleman's  agreement  with  one  another  and  with  the  high-school 
principal  with  regard  to  transfers,  school  regulations,  courses  of  instruc- 
tion, and  standards.  Finally,  the  people  voted  to  consolidate  the  three 
elementary-school  districts  and  the  high-school  district  into  one  city-school 
district,  under  a  city  superintendent  of  schools,  and  to  substitute  one  city 
board  of  education  for  the  different  district-school  boards. 

^  The  modern  city  has  been  made  possible  by  steam  and  electricity  and 
the  solution  of  the  problems  of  sewage  and  water-supply.  Steam  and  elec- 
tricity have  provided  transportation  and  machinery,  thus  making  manu- 
facturing on  a  large  scale  possible,  while  the  solution  of  the  sanitary  prob- 
lems has  removed  the  greatest  handicap  to  the  growth  of  mediaeval  towns. 


58  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Table  showing  growth  of  cities  in  the  United  States 


Per  cent  of  total 

population  in 

cities  of  8000 

or  over 

Number  of  cities 

Year 

of  8000 
or  over 

of  50,000 
or  over 

of  250,000 
or  over 

1790 

3.3 

4.0 

4.9 

4.9 

6.7 

8.5 
12.5 
16. 
20.9 
22.6 
29.0 
32.9 
38.7 
43.8* 

6 

6 

11 

13 

26 

44 

85 

141 

226 

286 

447 

545 

782 

924 

2 

2 

3 

5 

9 

16 

25 

35 

58 

79 

109 

146 

1800 

1810 

1820 

1830     

1840 

1 

1850 

2 

I860 

3 

1870 

7 

1880 

8 

1890 

11 

1900 

15 

1910 

1920 

19 

24 

*In  addition  to  this  percentage  add  7.6  per  cent  for  persons  living  in  cities  of  2500  or  over 
and  under  8000,  and  8.6  per  cent  for  persons  living  in  incorporated  places  of  less  than  2500 
inhabitants.  This  leaves  40.1  per  cent  of  the  population,  in  1920,  as  living  in  rural  districts 
and  unincorporated  villages. 

Their  school  systems,  too,  were  of  a  relatively  simple  type, 
and  their  boards  of  school  trustees,  with  the  people  of  the 
districts,  exercised  almost  complete  control.  But  few  cities 
had  as  yet  created  the  office  of  superintendent  of  schools, 
and  the  few  which  had  had  assigned  clerical  rather  than 
executive  functions  to  the  new  official.  As  late  as  1870 
there  were  but  twenty-nine  city  superintendents^  of  schools 

1  These  29  cities  were,  with  decades  of  their  jBrst  appointment:  — 


Buffalo,  N.Y. 

1837 

Baltimore,  Md. 

1849 

Chicago.  111. 

1854 

Louisville,  Kv. 

1837 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

1854 

Providence,  R.I. 

1839 

Cincinnati,  0. 

1850 

St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

1854 

Boston,  Mass. 

1851 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 

1855 

Springfield,  Mass. 
New  Orleans,  La. 

1840 

Gloucester,  Mass. 

1851 

Worcester,  Mass. 

1855 

1841 

New  York  City 

1851 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 

1859 

Rochester,  N.Y. 

1843 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 

1852 

Columbus,  0. 

1847 

Jersey  City,  N.J. 

1852 

AlbaJiy,  N.Y. 

1866 

Auburn,  N.Y. 

1848 

Newark,  N.J. 

1853 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

1867 

Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

1848 

Cleveland,  0. 

1853 

Washington,  D.C. 

1869 

Syracuse,  N.Y. 

1848 

Oswego,  N.Y. 

1853 

From  a  table   prepared   by  William  T.  Harris,  while   United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education. 


THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 


59 


employed  in  the  entire  United  States,^  and  with  but  thirteen 
of  the  thirty-seven  States  represented.  As  late  as  1860,  also, 
but  sixty-nine  of  our  present  cities  are  regarded  as  having 
by  that  time  organized  a  clearly  defined  high-school  course 
of  instruction. 

Since  1870  the  growth  of  city  school  systems,  both  in 
number  and  size,  has  been  very  rapid,  and  with  this  growth 
many  new  problems  in  school  organization  and  administra- 
tion have  been  pushed  to  the  front.  The  number  of  city 
school  systems  has  been  multiplied  rapidly  since  1870,  and 
the  size  of  many  then  in  existence  has  trebled  or  quadrupled. 
In  1870,  too,  there  were  but  fourteen  cities  having  100,000 

Table  comparing  cities  and  States  in  size,  1920 


City 

Population 

State 

Population 

New  York  City 

Chicago 

5,621,151 
2,701,705 
1,823,158 
993,739 
796,836 
748,060 
588,193 
576,673 
457,147 
437,571 
401,247 
387,219 
380,582 
314,194 
234,595 
179,754 
75,917 

Ohio 

5,759,368 

Wisconsin 

2,631,839 

Philadelohia 

Louisiana 

1,797,798 

Detroit 

Florida 

966,296 

Cleveland 

Oregon 

783,389 

Boston 

Maine 

768,014 

Pittsburgh 

Rhode  Island 

Montana 

604,397 

547,593 

Milwaukee 

Utah 

449,446 

Washington 

New  Hampshire 

Idaho 

443,083 

Cincinnati 

431,826 

New  Orleans 

New  Mexico 

Vermont 

360,247 

Minneapolis 

352,421 

I  ndianapoHs 

Arizona 

333,273 
223,003 

St.  Paul 

Delaware 

Worcester 

Wyoming 

194,402 

Harrisburg 

Nevada 

77,407 

1  The  Civil  War  gave  a  check  to  the  movement  for  city  school  supervision, 
but  three  cities  being  added  during  the  war  decade.  By  1876,  however, 
142  cities,  out  of  the  175  cities  at  that  time  having  8000  inhabitants  or  over, 
had  city  superintendents  of  schools,  and  the  number  has  rapidly  increased 
since  then.  In  the  Educational  Directory,  published  by  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education,  2798  superintendents  in  cities  and  towns  of 
over  2500  inhabitants  are  listed  for  1920-21. 


60  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

inhabitants ;  in  1920  there  were  sixty-eight  such  cities,  and 
these  sixty-eight  cities  contained  26  per  cent  of  the  total 
population  of  the  United  States.  In  these  larger  cities  the 
public  school  system  is  comparable  in  size  to  state  school 
systems,  while  the  administrative  problems  are  different  and 
more  difficult  and  the  complexity  of  the  school  system  is  far 
greater.  This  may  be  seen,  in  part,  from  the  previous  com- 
parisons, based  on  the  United  States  Census  Reports  for  1920. 

Prominence  of  city  administrative  problems.  With  the 
increase  in  both  the  number  and  the  size  of  cities,  and  the 
marked  increase  in  the  number  of  educational  functions 
assumed  by  the  cities,  as  their  school  systems  have  evolved, 
the  schools  in  our  cities  have  differentiated  themselves  in 
character  from  those  in  the  rural  districts  and  the  small 
villages.  So  marked  has  been  the  modification  of  school 
systems  to  meet  special  urban  needs,  arising  as  a  result  of 
the  rapid  development  and  the  changing  character  of  our 
municipal  population,  problems,  and  governments,  that  it 
may  be  said  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  problems  of  school 
control  which  have  been  before  us  for  discussion  and  solu- 
tion, during  the  past  forty  years,  have  been  problems  relat- 
ing especially  to  the  city  school  district.  Only  recently  have 
our  rural  and  village  schools  received  any  particular  atten- 
tion, either  in  discussion  or  in  legislation.  So  rapid,  too,  has 
been  the  city  development  since  about  1860  or  1870  that 
the  ingenuity  of  both  legislators  and  school  men  has  been 
taxed  to  evolve  ways  and  means  by  which  our  city  school 
districts  could  meet  the  many  new  problems  which  the 
rapid  growth  and  changing  character  of  our  cities  have 
pushed  to  the  front. 

The  city's  distinctive  contribution.  As  a  result  our  city 
school  systems  have  so  far  offered  the  largest  opportunities 
for  constructive  educational  leadership,  attracting  the  best 
minds  to  their  service.    It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 


THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  61 

great  educational  advance  which  we,  as  a  nation,  have 
made  during  the  past  half -century  has  been,  to  a  very  large 
degree,  the  advance  which  our  cities  have  made  in  organiza- 
tion, administration,  equipment,  instruction,  and  in  the  ex- 
tension of  educational  advantages.  The  grading  of  schools, 
the  development  of  high  schools,  the  introduction  of  instruc- 
tion in  special  subjects,  night  and  continuation  schools,  va- 
cation schools,  playgrounds,  evening  lectures,  schools  for 
adults,  the  kindergarten,  schools  for  dependents  and  de- 
linquents, compulsory  education,  health  supervision,  voca- 
tional guidance  and  vocational  instruction,  free  textbooks 
and  supplies,  the  estabhshment  of  the  value  of  good  super- 
vision and  business  organization,  and  the  working-out  and 
estabhshment  of  sound  principles  in  educational  organiza- 
tion and  administration,  —  these  have  been  distinctive  con- 
tributions which  the  city  school  district  has  made  to  our 
educational  theory  and  practice. 

As  a  result,  most  of  our  best  administrative  experience 
in  the  field  of  pubhc  education  is  that  which  has  been  worked 
out  in  the  organization  and  administration  of  the  school 
systems  of  our  American  cities.  It  is  to  them,  then,  that  we 
naturally  turn  first  for  guidance  in  handling  our  administra- 
tive problems.  A  study  of  their  best  administrative  experi- 
ence can  frequently  throw  much  light  on  administrative 
problems  in  other  fields  of  public  education. 

State  vs.  city  control  of  the  school  district.  One  very  im- 
portant reason  why  the  cities  have  been  able  to  make  such 
marked  educational  progress,  and  to  contribute  so  much  to 
our  theory  and  practice  in  the  field  of  school  organization 
and  administration,  is  that,  in  the  past,  our  city  school 
districts  have  been  quite  free  to  go  ahead,  within  the  limits 
of  their  finances,  and  do  what  they  saw  to  be  done  and  knew 
how  to  do.  Up  to  recent  years  the  States  have  been  willing 
to  grant  to  the  cities  almost  any  form  of  educational  charter. 


62 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


and  have  shown  but  Httle  disposition  to  interfere  with  them 
in  their  educational  work,  though  there  is,  at  present,  a 
growing  tendency  toward  uniform  regulation  and  toward 
an  increase  of  the  state  control.  The  general  interest  of  the 


MAP  OF 
PORTLAND,  ORE. 

SHOWIMG 

BOUNDARIES 

City  ■  !!■ 

School  District — «^— 

Schools  ■ 


? 


Fig.  5.    CITY  AND  SCHOOL-DISTRICT  BOUNDARIES  COMPARED 

The  above  map  of  the  city  school  district  and  the  municipality  of  Portland,  Oregon, 
as  they  were  in  1913,  shows  the  two  corporations  as  only  partly  coterminous,  the 
school  district  being  larger  than  the  city.  Each  dot  indicates  the  location  of  an  ele- 
mentary school,  and  each  small  square  a  high  school.  The  government  of  the  two 
corporations  is  almost  entirely  distinct.  (From  the  Report  of  the  Portland  School 
Survey,  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers-on-Hudson,  New  York.  Reproduced  by  permis- 
sion.) 


people  of  the  whole  State  in  the  maintenance  of  good  schools, 
the  laws  requiring  all  communities  to  meet  certain  minimum 
standards,  and  the  general  conception  of  the  school  district 
as  a  separate  and  distinct  corporation  from  the  munici- 
pal corporation  with  which  it  may  be  partially  or  wholly 


THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  63 

coterminous,  have  all  alike  served  to  protect  the  school  sys- 
tem from  too  great  interference  by  the  municipal  authori- 
ties. These  have  been  important  points  of  strength  for  the 
cities. 

Protection  instead  of  bureaucracy.  With  the  growing 
tendency  of  the  State  to  increase  its  oversight  and  control 
of  all  types  of  school  districts,  and  the  constant  temptation, 
with  the  growth  of  the  school  system,  to  interested  persons 
in  municipahties  to  subordinate  pubHc  education  to  per- 
sonal ends,  there  is  an  increasing  need  for  a  clearer  defini- 
tion of  the  rights,  powers,  duties,  privileges,  and  obligations, 
individual  and  reciprocal,  of  both  the  State  and  the  school 
districts  of  om*  cities.  To  preserve  the  schools  from  the 
deadening  rule  of  a  state  bureaucracy,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  protect  them  from  political  exploitation  or  neglect; 
to  leave  to  the  cities  as  large  liberty  in  the  selection  of  tools 
and  methods  as  is  consistent  with  the  securing  of  the  results 
desired  by  the  State;  to  see  that  local  school  systems  are 
adequately  financed,  instead  of  being  subordinated  to  the 
pressing  demands  of  other  city  departments;  and  to  keep 
the  school  systems  of  the  city  school  districts  in  touch  with 
community  needs  and  expressive  of  community  wishes,  and 
at  the  same  time  safeguard  them  from  politics;  —  these 
are  the  principal  problems  in  the  relation  of  the  State  to 
the  city  school  districts  subordinate  to  it.  The  State,  as  the 
guardian  of  the  educational  rights  of  its  future  citizenship, 
must  see  that  local  administrative  units  do  not  override 
such  rights  for  local  or  political  or  selfish  ends,  and  at  the 
same  time  must  not  unduly  cramp  or  hmit  the  efficiency  of 
the  city  school  districts. 

Other  problems  of  relationship.  In  addition  to  these 
primary  problems  of  state  oversight  and  control,  the  prob- 
lems of  relationship  confront  the  State  in  dealing  with  the 
city  school  district.    Chief  among  these  are  as  to  the  best 


64  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

form  of  organization  for  the  board  of  control  for  the  city 
school  system;  the  powers  and  duties  which  should  be  given 
to  such  boards;  the  business  and  statistical  relations  of  city 
school  districts  to  the  county  and  to  the  State;  the  classi- 
fication of  city  school  districts  on  the  basis  of  size,  or  some 
other  basis,  for  the  placing  of  extra  educational  require- 
ments and  the  granting  of  larger  freedom;  the  powers  which 
should  be  guaranteed,  by  law,  to  the  superintendent  of 
education  and  other  executive  officers  in  city  districts;  the 
extent  to  which  cities,  as  centers  of  wealth,  should  contrib- 
ute to  the  partial  maintenance  of  schools  in  county  and 
State;  the  general  business  administration  of  the  schools, 
and  the  financial  powers  to  be  given  city  district  boards, 
both  for  annual  maintenance  and  plant  expenditures; 
special  requirements  as  to  the  school  plant;  health  super- 
vision and  sanitary  control;  special  problems  relating  to  the 
teaching  corps;  courses  of  study  and  textbooks;  and  the 
maintenance  of  special-type  schools.  The  prime  purpose  of 
the  State  in  legislating  on  all  such  matters  is  not  so  much 
to  impose  its  will  as  to  stimulate  the  cities  to  educational 
activity;  not  so  much  to  insist  upon  the  State's  methods  as 
to  insure  satisfactory  final  results.  Any  wise  constructive 
state  educational  policy  will  keep  these  problems  of  relation- 
ship clearly  in  mind,  and  will  observe,  wherever  possible,  a 
definite  line  of  demarcation  between  the  powers  and  rights 
of  the  State  and  the  privileges  and  options  of  communities. 
It  is  primarily  the  business  of  the  State  to  preserve  and 
advance  the  general  educational  welfare,  but  in  doing  so  it 
should  allow  all  reasonable  scope  to  the  city  school  districts 
in  all  matters  in  which  individual  variation  may  be  desir- 
able. 

To  study  the  city  first.  The  great  number  and  the  great 
variety  of  the  problems  involved  in  good  city  school  ad- 
ministration tp-day,  even  in  the  city  of  small  or  moderate 


THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  65 

size,  and  the  fact  that  the  city  has  for  some  time  been  a  place 
of  conflict,  where  the  fundamental  principles  underlying 
sound  educational  organization  and  administration  have 
been  fought  out,  make  it  particularly  desirable  that  we 
should  turn  to  a  special  study  of  our  best  city  administra- 
tive experience  before  considering  further  the  general  prob- 
lems of  state  and  local  control.  After  having  done  so 
(Part  II)  we  shall  return  to  these  general  problems,  and 
shall  then  attempt  (Part  III)  to  apply  the  results  of  such 
experience. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  has  the  school-district  meeting  passed  out  with  the  establishment 
of  city  boards  of  education? 

2.  Name  three  causes  for  the  rapid  and  continued  concentration  of  popu- 
lation in  cities. 

S.  Why  has  such  a  marked  educational  expansion  been  necessary,  for  the 
larger  cities,  during  the  past  half-century? 

4.  How  would  you  classify  cities,  if  drawing  up  a  law  for  their  government 
for  school  purposes,  and  what  different  powers  and  duties  would  you  give 
to  the  different  classifications? 

5.  What  are  some  of  the  specific  restrictions  which  your  State  imposes  on 
the  cities  in  their  exercise  of  control  over  the  schools? 

6.  What  do  you  understand  by  "freedom  in  the  choice  of  tools  and 
methods  by  which  they  [city  school  districts]  are  to  accomplish  the  re- 
quired educational  results"? 

7.  Compare  the  administrative  problems  of  a  state  superintendent  of 
public  instruction  in  any  of  the  States  given  in  the  table  on  page  59 
with  those  in  the  corresponding  city. 

8.  Is  there  "a  growing  tendency  to  increase  the  state  control"  over  city 
school  districts  in  your  State,  or  not?  If  so,  how  has  it  manifested  itself  ? 

9.  Would  you  say  that  it  has  been  the  result  of  a  more  general  apprecia- 
tion, on  the  part  of  the  public,  of  a  state  responsibility  for  good  schools, 
or  to  some  other  cause? 

10.  Show  that,  as  regards  public  education,  the  relation  of  the  State  to  the 
city  is  essentially  and  necessarily  different  from  the  relation  with  refer- 
ence to  other  municipal  functions. 

11.  Distinguish  between  natural  centralizing  tendencies  in  state  educa- 
tional administration,  and  "aggrandizing  tendencies"  on  the  part  of  the 
state  educational  officials  or  state  boards. 

12.  What  fundamental  educational  principle  should  underlie  all  centraliz- 
ing legislation? 


66  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

13.  Distinguish  between  narrow  and  prescriptive,  and  liberal  and  adapta- 
ble state  oversight  and  control  of  city  school  districts,  in  such  legislative 
matters  as  courses  of  study,  school  building  plans,  maintenance  of 
special-type  schools,  and  secondary  education. 

14.  Why  is  it  that  we  can  point  out  the  weakness  of  a  situation  years  before 
we  can  hope  to  remedy  it  by  legislation? 

15.  To  what  extent  is  the  proper  solution  of  the  problems  of  relationship, 
cited  on  pages  63  and  64,  tied  up  with  progress  in  other  fields  of  polit- 
ical and  social  endeavor? 

16.  Should  the  State  attempt  to  direct  or  supervise  the  instruction  in  city 
school  districts,  under  a  city  superintendent  of  schools?  If  so,  to  what 
extent  and  how,  and  in  what  size  of  cities? 

17.  Is  there  a  tendency  in  your  State  to  subordinate  the  interests  of  the 
schools  "to  the  pressing  demands  of  other  city  departments"  ?  If  not, 
why  not?  If  so,  why  so? 

SELECTED  REFERENCES  COVERING  PART  I 

The  following  books  and  magazine  articles  cover  the  subject-matter  of 
the  chapters  of  Part  I:  — 
Bard,H.E.    The  City  School  District.  118  pp.  Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ. 
no.  28;  New  York,  1909. 

A  study  of  the  relations  between  the  city  school  district  and  the  city  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  State  on  the  other. 

Brown,  S.  W.  The  Secularization  of  American  Education.  158  pp.  Trs.  Col. 
Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  49;  New  York,  1912. 

A  study  of  the  gradual  process  by  means  of  which  American  education  was  secular- 
ized. 

Chamberlain,  A.  H.  The  Growth  of  Responsibility  and  Enlargement  of  Power 
of  the  City  School  Superintendent.  158  pp.  Univ.  Cal.  Pubs.;  Education, 
vol.  Ill,  no.  4;  1913. 

Section  III  of  this  thesis  is  very  good  along  the  lines  of  Chapters  11  to  V,  and 
Section  IV  along  the  lines  of  Chapter  VI. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools;  Their  Direction  and  Management.  338  pp. 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1908. 

Chapter  I,  "The  State  and  the  School,"  considers  the  school  as  an  agent  of  the 
State. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  Changing  Conceptions  of  Education.  68  pp.  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1909. 

A  brief  historical  sketch,  relating  especially  to  Chapters  I  and  II. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  Rural  Life  and  Education.  365  pp.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co., 
Boston,  1914. 

Chapters  FV,  V,  VII,  and  VIII  of  this  book  describe  the  effect  of  the  rural-life 
changes  (Chapters  I  and  II)  on  the  rural  school ;  rural-life  needs  ;  the  fundamental 
needs  of  rural  education;  and  the  forms  (units)  for  organization  and  control  of  schools 
(Chapters  IV  and  V). 


THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  67 

Cubberley,  E.  P.,  and  Elliott,  E.G.  State  and  County  School  Administration. 
Vol.  I,  Principles.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1916. 

Division  II,  "State  Administrative  Organization,"  contains  seven  chapters  (V-XI) 
dealing  with  the  State  and  its  educational  subdivisions,  and  the  relationship  of  each 
to  the  problem  of  proper  state  educational  organization  and  administration. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.,  and  Elliott,  E.  C.  State  and  County  School  Administra- 
tion. Vol.  II,  Source  Book.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1915, 

Chapters  I,  V,  IX,  and  XI  contain  illustrative  documents  on  the  origin,  present 
status,  and  needs  of  the  State  and  its  subordinate  administrative  units. 

Draper,  A.S.  "Educational  Organization  and  Administration";  in  Butler, 
N.  M.,  Education  in  the  United  States.  American  Book  Co.,  New 
York,  2d  ed.,  1910. 

A  brief  general  statement  (31  pp.)  of  American  organization,  prepared  for  the  Paris 
Exposition  of  1900. 

Draper,  A.  S.   American  Education.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1909. 

Part  I,  Chapters  I-IV,  60  pp.,  contains  "The  Nation's  Purpose";  "Development  of 
Schools"  ;  "Functions  of  the  State";  and  "LegalBasis  of  Schools."  Good  articles  on 
the  organization  of  American  education. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  S.  Administration  of  Public  Education  in  the 
United  States.  614  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  2d  ed.,  1912. 

Chapters  IV-VIII  cover  the  State  and  education,  local  imits,  problems  of  adminis« 
tration,  and  city  school  systems. 

Elliott,  E.  C.  Legal  Decisions  Relating  to  Education.  Macmillan  Co., 
New  York,  1916. 

Chapter  V,  "The  State  the  Unit,"  contains  a  series  of  supreme-court  decisions, 
further  illustrative  of  the  principles  of  state  control  laid  down  in  Chapter  11. 

Hollister,  H.  A.  The  Administration  oj  Education  in  a  Democracy.  377  pp. 
Scribners,  New  York,  1914. 

Chapters  I-IV  (pp.  1-71)  contain  a  short  historical  account,  and  describe  our  na- 
tional ideals  and  the  units  employed  for  school  organization  and  administration. 

Monroe,  Paul  {editor).  Cyclopedia  of  Education.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York, 
1911-13. 

A  very  important  work.  See  especially  the  articles  on  "City  School  Administra- 
tion"; "County  System";  "District  System";  "State  School  Administration";" Town 
System";  and  "Township  System." 

Moore,  E.  C.  "Indispensable  Requirements  in  City  School  Administra- 
tion"; in  Educational  Review,  Vol.  46,  pp.  143-56.  September,  1913. 

An  excellent  article  on  the  fundamental  proposition  that  the  city  school  district  is 
a  state,  and  not  a  city,  administrative  unit. 

Parker,  S.  C.  The  History  of  Modern  Elementary  Education.  505  pp. 
Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  1912. 

Chapter  XII,  "Development  of  American  Secular  School  Systems,"  describes  the 
development  in  New  York  City,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  and  Indiana,  as  typical. 

Rollins,  F.  School  Administration  in  Municipal  Government.  106  pp. 
Col.  Univ.  Contribs.  to  Phil.  Psy.  and  Educ,  vol.  xi,  no.  1;  New  York, 
1902. 

Chapter  I,  pp.  11-20,  is  a  good  short  chapter  on  the  interest  of  the  State  in  the 
school  administration  of  cities. 


68  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Seerley,  H.  H.  "The  Province  of  the  Common  People  in  the  Administra- 
tion of  Public  Education";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Asso- 
ciation, 1909,  pp.  415-23. 

Stands  for  large  local  liberty,  as  opposed  to  centralized  control.    Followed  by  a 
discussion  of  the  paper  by  Professor  W.  S.  Sutton. 

Webster,  Wm.  C.  Recent  Centralizing  Tendencies  in  State  Educational  Ad- 
ministration.  78  pp.    Columbia  Studies  in  History,  Economics,  and 
Public  Law,  vol.  viii,  no.  2;  New  York,  1897. 
A  study  in  the  changes  of  relation  of  the  State  to  public  education. 


PART  II 
THE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  AND  ITS  PROBLEMS 


CHAPTER  VII 

EVOLUTION   OF   CITY   SCHOOL   ORGANIZATION   AND 
ADMINISTRATION 

The  original  town  control.  The  taking-over  of  education 
from  the  church  as  a  function  of  the  State,  and  the  evolu- 
tion of  an  administrative  organization  and  machinery  for 
its  maintenance  and  control,  was  a  long  and,  for  a  time, 
a  very  slow  process.  It  began,  in  the  United  States,  when 
the  school  in  New  England  was  founded  as  a  creation  of  the 
civil  instead  of  the  religious  town,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
nineteenth  century  that  a  full  civil  directing  body  to  man- 
age the  school  was  finally  evolved,  and  the  process  of  evolv- 
ing professional  supervision  for  the  schools  was  begun.  The 
process  is  best  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Massachusetts,  and 
forms  an  interesting  introduction  to  the  study  of  city  school 
administrative  organization  and  control. 

In  the  first  general  law  of  the  colony  definitely  requiring 
the  establishment  of  schools,  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court  placed  the  responsibility  for  their  establishment  and 
maintenance  with  the  towns,  as  wholes.^  At  first,  when  the 
school  was  a  small  and  a  simple  affair,  and  when  neither 
the  educational  nor  business  control  of  the  school  presented 
any  problems  of  consequence,  the  people,  in  town  meetings, 
attended  to  the  matter  of  education  just  as  they  attended 
to  matters  relating  to  roads,  defenses,  or  the  civil  govern- 
ment, and  just  as,  in  religious  meeting,  these  same  people 
attended  to  matters  relating  to  the  affairs  of  the  religious 

1  Decree  of  the  Massachusetts  General  Court  of  1647.  For  the  full  text 
of  the  decree  see  Paul  Monroe,  Sources  in  the  History  of  Education  in  the 

United  States. 


72  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

parish.  The  practice  of  the  different  towns  varied  some- 
what, though  in  general  the  people,  assembled  together  in 
town  meeting,  first  voted  to  establish  and  afterward  to  sup- 
port the  school,  and  then  voted  to  select  a  schoolmaster 
for  it.^ 

In  these  early  meetings  of  the  townspeople  we  find  the 
first  faint  beginnings  of  the  process  of  differentiating  between 
the  lay  and  the  professional  functions  in  school  control. 

In  that  early  vote  of  school  support  [says  Suzzallo  ^]  are  implied 
those  powers  and  duties  of  school  administration  which  have  al- 
ways remained,  for  the  large  part,  in  the  hands  of  laymen  officials 
in  school  affairs.  In  the  early  vote  of  electing  the  teacher  are  im- 
plied those  powers  and  duties  of  school  supervision  which  have 
passed,  or  are,  by  slow  degrees,  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  pro- 
fessional class  of  educational  workers. 

Subtracting  powers  from  the  towns.  The  Law  of  1647 
had  required  the  different  towns  to  establish  and  maintain 
schools,  and  had  imposed  a  fine  of  five  pounds  for  failure  to 
do  so.  Every  detail  relating  to  the  carrying  of  this  law  into 
effect,  however,  was  left  to  the  people  of  the  towns.  Seven 
years  later  the  first  step  in  the  direction  of  any  control  of 
the  towns  was  made  in  a  general  law  of  the  Colony  which 

*  A  few  examples  will  illustrate  this:  — 

Boston,  in  town  meeting  in  1635,  established  its  first  school  by  the 
adoption  of  the  following  order:  — 

"Likewise,  it  was  then  generally  agreed  upon,  that  our  brother  Philemon 
Pormont  shall  be  entreated  to  become  schole-master  for  the  teaching  and 
nourtering  of  children  with  us." 

A  year  later  Charlestown  voted  to  arrange  with  William  Witherell  "to 
keep  a  school  for  a  twelvemonth,"  and  fixed  his  salary  at  £40  a  year. 

Cambridge,  in  1638,  established  its  first  school  by  voting  certain  lands 
for  "the  vse  of  mr  Nath  Eaten  as  long  as  he  shall  be  Imployed"  in  the 
work  of  teaching  the  school. 

Newbury,  the  year  following,  granted  to  Anthony  Somerby  "foure  akers 
of  upland"  and  "sixe  akers  of  salt  marsh"  as  an  "encouragement  to  keepe 
schoole  for  one  year." 

2  Henry  Suzzallo,  The  Rise  of  Local  School  Supervision  in  Massachusetts, 
p.  4. 


EVOLUTION  OF  CITY  ORGANIZATION  73 

commended  to  the  selectmen  ^  of  the  different  towns  that 
they  exercise  some  supervision  over  the  character  of  the 
teachers  employed  by  the  towns. ^  Nearly  forty  years  later 
(1693),  by  a  second  law,  the  selectmen  and  the  towns  were 
jointly  charged  to  see  that  the  schools  were  maintained,  and 
the  selectmen  were  given  power  to  levy  taxes  for  schools, 
provided  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  towns  had  pre\d- 
ously  voted  to  direct  them  to  do  so. 

Excepting  these  two  very  limited  laws,  no  action  looking 
toward  the  removal  from  the  town  of  any  of  its  powers 
relating  to  schools  was  taken  during  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. The  law  of  1701-02,  which  required  the  master  for 
the  grammar  school  to  be  examined  and  certificated  by  a 
majority  of  the  ministers  of  the  town  and  the  two  adjoining 
towns,  was  the  first  real  subtraction  of  power  from  the 
people  of  the  town  as  a  whole.  The  law  of  1711-12,  which 
applied  the  same  principle  to  teachers  for  the  elementary 
schools  of  the  town,  and  placed  the  power  to  examine  and 
certificate  such  persons  definitely  with  the  selectmen  of  the 
town,  was  the  second  subtraction  of  power. 

Both  of  these  subtractions,  made  by  direction  of  the 
State,  were  subtractions  of  educational  fimctions,  and  were 
made  in  the  interests  of  a  higher  degree  of  efficiency  in 
the  schools.  In  the  first  case,  the  power  to  examine  and 
certificate  was  given  to  a  distinctly  educational  body;  in  the 
second,  to  the  representative  body  for  the  government  of 
the  town.  The  people  still  voted  funds,  cared  for  the  school 
property,  selected  textbooks,  and  directed  the  instruction. 

^  Selected  men  representing  the  town  in  certain  forms  of  its  business;  the 
prototype  of  the  modern  city  council  as  a  city-governing  body. 

2  The  law  commended  to  "the  selectmen  in  the  seuerall  townes,  not  to 
admitt  or  suffer  any  such  to  be  contynued  in  the  office  or  the  place  of  teach- 
ing, educating  or  instructing  of  youth  or  child,  in  the  colledge  or  schooles, 
that  haue  manifested  ym  selves  vnsound  in  the  fayth,  or  scandelous  in 
theire  lines,  &  not  glueing  due  satisfaction  according  to  the  rules  of  Christ." 


74  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Rise  of  the  school  committee.  As  the  school  business 
of  the  towns  increased,  there  was  a  natural  tendency  among 
the  towns  toward  the  appointment  of  special  committees 
for  various  educational  purposes.  Sometimes  these  com- 
mittees were  purely  special  and  temporary,^  and  some- 
times they  were  appointed  for  definite  purposes  and  for 
definite  periods  of  time.^  These  committees,  however,  were 
appointed  by  the  towns  for  mere  convenience  of  adminis- 
tration, and  without  either  the  authorization  or  direction  of 
the  general  law. 

In  1798,  for  the  first  time,  a  new  state  law,  deahng  with 
the  certification  of  teachers,  recognized  such  special  com- 
mittees by  authorizing  the  acceptance,  for  elementary- 
school  teachers,  of  a  certificate  from  such  committees  in  Ueu 
of  a  certificate  from  the  selectmen,  and  by  implication  also 
sanctioned  the  employment  of  teachers  for  the  schools  by 
such  special  committees.  ^  This  law  also  gave  the  selectmen 
some  power  in  the  grading  of  the  schools,  and  also  made 
the  visitation  and  inspection  of  schools  a  uniform  require- 
ment upon  the  ministers  and  selectmen  or  committees  of 
the  several  towns. 

This  last  requirement  marks  the  beginnings  of  author- 
ized supervision  in  Massachusetts,  and  from  this  time  on 
special  school  committees  began  to  be  appointed  in  the  differ- 

^  For  example:  Duxbury,  in  1747,  appointed  a  committee  of  one  as 
"their  Agent  to  procure  a  Schoolmaster";  Dudley,  in  1760,  appointed  a 
committee  of  three  to  sell  the  schoolhouse;  and  in  1762  Braintree  appointed 
a  committee  of  three  "to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  School." 

2  For  example:  Boston,  in  1721,  appointed  the  first  committee  on  visita- 
tion for  the  schools,  and  continued  to  appoint  such  annually  thereafter  for 
nearly  a  century;  Springfield,  in  1735,  appointed  a  committee  of  three  "to 
take  the  Inspection  and  Regulation  of  the  School"  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river;  and  Fitchburg,  in  1776,  gave  to  a  school  committee  supervisory 
power  over  the  teachers  employed  by  the  town. 

3  Referring  to  the  certification  of  grammar-school  and  other  masters, 
the  law  includes  the  following  clause:  "such  Selectmen  or  Committee,  who 
may  be  authorized  to  hire  such  schoolmaster." 


EVOLUTION  OF  CITY  ORGANIZATION  75 

ent  towns.  ^  Often,  however,  these  new  school  committees 
also  included  the  selectmen.^ 

In  1826  the  State  took  the  final  step  in  the  evolution  of  a 
distinct  school  board  by  ordering  each  town  in  the  State  to 
elect  a  separate  school  committee  ^  to  have  "  the  general 
charge  and  superintendence  of  all  the  public  schools  "  of 
the  town.^  This  law  marks  the  final  transfer  of  the  educa- 
tional functions  from  the  selectmen  to  a  new  body,  created 
for  the  purposes  of  administering  public  education  in  the 
towns.  This  new  body  now  elected  the  teachers,  certificated 
them,  supervised  the  instruction,  selected  the  textbooks, 
had  control  of  the  school-buildings,  and  made  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  control  of  the  schools.  The  voting  of 
school  support  was  now  the  only  power  of  importance  re- 
maining in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

Two  centuries  of  evolution.  We  see  here  the  result  of 
two  centuries  of  evolution  in  the  organization  and  adminis- 
tration of  public  education.  When  the  civil  school  first 
arose,  and  for  some  time  afterward  during  its  period  of 
infancy  as  a  public  institution,  the  people  of  the  towns,  in 
town  meeting,  arranged  all  details  relating  to  its  control. 
As  the  schools  grew  and  increased  in  size  and  importance, 

*  Many  of  the  towns  took  advantage  of  this  law  and  appointed  school 
committees,  or  boards.  The  School  Committee  Records  of  Newburyport 
date  from  1790,  those  of  Boston  from  1792,  and  those  of  Hingham  from 
1794. 

2  In  Boston,  for  example,  the  school  committee  consisted  of  the  entire 
board  of  selectmen  and  twelve  additional  conmaitteemen,  elected  by  the 
people  of  the  town  in  the  annual  town  meeting. 

2  This  is  still  a  common  New  England  designation  of  what  elsewhere  is 
generally  called  "board  of  education." 

^  An  exception  to  this  was  Boston,  where,  on  the  incorporation  of  the 
.  ity  in  1822,  the  control  of  the  schools  was  given  to  the  eight  aldermen  of 
the  new  city.  This  continued  until  1835,  when  a  separate  school  committee, 
composed  of  two  citizens  to  be  elected  annually  from  each  of  the  twelve 
wards  of  the  city,  together  with  the  mayor  and  the  president  of  the  common 
council,  ex  officio^  was  created. 


76  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  first  of  the  functions  represented  by  the  two  early  votes, 
namely,  that  of  voting  support,  remained  with  the  towns; 
but  the  second  function,  namely,  that  of  choosing  the 
teacher,  became  complicated,  differentiated  itself  into  a 
number  of  more  or  less  professional  acts,  and  was  gradually 
delegated  by  the  people  to  those  who  could  represent  them 
better  than  they  could  act  for  themselves. 

The  first  professional  act  to  be  differentiated  was  the  certi- 
fication of  the  teachers  employed;  the  next  was  the  visita- 
tion and  inspection  of  their  work;  and,  finally,  the  right  to 
employ  the  teacher  also  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  people 
into  the  hands  of  others  who  represented  them.  At  first, 
these  representatives  were  the  learned  men  of  the  towns,  — 
the  ministers,  or  the  men  selected  by  the  people  for  the 
general  town  government;  finally,  a  special  representative 
body  (school  committee)  was  evolved,  selected  because  of 
supposed  ability  to  direct  the  system  of  public  education 
maintained,  and  to  this  body  were  transferred  the  educa- 
tional functions  formerly  resting  with  the  towns.  The  final 
compulsory  establishment  of  school  committees  (1826) 
marks  the  definite  recognition  by  the  State  that  the  people 
of  the  towns  were  no  longer  able  en  masse  to  handle  intelli- 
gently those  educational  matters  relating  to  the  teaching 
function  of  the  school.  Such  matters  were  now  to  be  de- 
cided for  them  by  their  representatives  (or  by  the  State); 
the  voting  of  school  support  alone  still  remained  with  the 
people. 

Massachusetts  a  t3npe.  Massachusetts  represents,  a  type 
of  the  best  of  our  colonial  development,  and  brings  the 
evolution  of  city  school  control  up  to  the  close  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  By  this  time  the  school 
board  had  clearly  evolved,  and  its  functions  had  become 
fairly  well  established.  This  is  shown  in  the  chart  in- 
serted here.    From  this  time  on  it  is  only  a  further  differ- 


EVOLUTION  OF  CITY  ORGANIZATION  77 

entiation  of  functions  and  a  delegation  of  powers  to  execu- 
tive officers. 

It  is  in  Massachusetts,  too,  that  the  breaking-up  of  the 
towns  into  school  districts  first  reached  its  extreme  develop- 
ment. Beginning  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  proc- 
ess reached  its  culmination  in  the  Law  of  1827,  enacted  in 
part  as  a  reaction  against  the  Law  of  1826,  whereby  the 
districts  were  created  bodies  corporate  and  politic  and  the 
trustee  for  each  ("  prudential  committeeman,"  as  he  was 
called)  was  given  power  to  appoint  the  teacher  for  his  dis- 
trict. This  law  marks  the  high-water  mark  of  the  district 
system  in  Massachusetts;  after  1837  it  was  on  the  defensive, 
and  was  finally  abolished  in  1882.  The  influence  of  this 
development  on  the  new  States  to  the  westward,  however, 
was  large. 

Types  of  development  elsewhere.  It  is  at  about  the 
point  reached  by  Massachusetts  by  1826  that  the  develop- 
ment in  many  of  our  other  earlier  States  begins,  and  one  or 
the  other  of  the  plans  worked  out  in  Massachusetts  was 
followed  by  them.  Some  cities  began  with  the  district 
system,  and  later  united  the  various  districts  into  one  city 
school  system;  ^  others  began,  from  the  first,  with  a  board 
of  education  (school  committee)  for  the  city  as  a  whole;  ^ 
a  few  followed,  for  a  time,  the  plan  employed  in  Boston 
from  1822  to  1835,  and  placed  the  schools  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  city  coimcil;  ^  and  a  few  others  empowered 
the  city  council  to  appoint  a  board  to  manage  the  schools 
and  to  report  to  them.^    The  first  plan  has  now  everywhere 

^  Pennsylvania  cities  form  excellent  examples  of  this.  Buffalo  and 
Chicago  are  other  good  examples  of  early  district  organization. 

^  Columbus,  Cincinnati,  and  St.  Louis  illustrate  this  type. 

3  Buffalo,  from  1839  to  1914. 

*  Cleveland's  first  charter  (1836)  provided  for  the  appointment  annually, 
by  the  city  council,  of  a  board  of  managers  of  common  schools,  and  gave 
the  council  power  to  determine  the  funds  needed.  The  school  board  was 
thus  little  more  than  a  subcommittee  of  the  city  council.     This  condition 


78  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

been  abandoned,  the  cities  of  Pennsylvania  being  the  last 
to  give  it  up,  and  the  second  is  now  the  almost  universal 
practice.  In  some  of  our  older  Eastern  cities  what  later 
evolved  into  public  education  was  begun  by  school  societies, 
and  was  only  gradually  assumed  by  the  public.  When  the 
schools  were  finally  taken  over,  however,  they  were  placed 
under  city  boards  of  education  which  were  granted  all  of 
the  powers  which  the  school  committees  of  Massachusetts 
had  come  into  possession  of  as  a  result  of  two  centuries  of 
slow  evolution. 

The  separate  school  board.  Early  in  the  second  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century  the  idea  of  a  separate  board  in 
cities,  for  the  management  of  the  public  school  system  main- 
tained, may  be  said  to  have  become  an  accepted  principle 
in  our  local  government,  and  practically  all  powers  of  school 
control,  aside  from  the  voting  of  funds,  now  rested  with 
such  boards.  All  of  the  many  powers  evolving  out  of  the 
side  of  school  control  represented  by  the  early  town  vote  to 
choose  a  teacher  had  now  passed  from  the  people  to  such  a 
board,  as  had  also  some  of  the  functions  evolving  out  of  the 
other  vote  to  establish  and  maintain  a  school.  The  State, 
by  general  or  special  law,  or  by  means  of  city  charters,  now 
laid  down  certain  general  rules  which  must  be  followed,  and 
made  certain  demands  which  must  be  met.  Within  such 
limits  as  these  laws  imposed  the  board,  as  a  unit,  exercised 
all  of  the  general  and  specific  duties  of  school  control. 
They  also  legislated  for  the  schools  and  then  executed, 
through  their  own  officers,  —  president,  secretary,  or  clerk, 
' —  or  through  the  masters  or  the  head  masters  of  the  school, 
the  legislation  which  they  had  formulated.  As  time  went 
by,  and  public  education  for  all  became  a  recognized  func- 

continued  until  1859,  when  special  legislation  was  secured  from  the  State 
which  provided  for  the  election  of  a  city  board  of  education,  by  the  people 
and  along  ward  lines. 


EVOLUTION  OF  CITY  ORGANIZATION  79 

tion  of  the  State,  the  duties  of  administration  and  control 
devolving  on  such  boards  naturally  increased. 

Development  of  the  ward  and  committee  systems.  In 
cities  where  the  ward  or  district  unit  of  organization  became 
prominent,  a  subdivision  of  the  increasing  duties  was  made 
on  the  basis  of  ward  or  district  lines.  The  central  board  ex- 
amined teachers,  selected  textbooks,  visited  the  schools,  and 
exercised  general  supervision  over  them,  while  the  trustees 
for  each  district  employed  the  teachers  for  that  district, 
built  and  cared  for  the  schoolhouses,  and  levied  taxes  for 
all  purposes  except  for  the  pay  of  the  teacher.^  Under  this 
plan  of  district  organization,  sectional  and  local  interests 
naturally  attained  great  importance,  great  inequalities  in  the 
schools  and  in  the  burdens  for  their  support  existed,  and 
the  school  systems  resulting  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been 
much  more,  at  first,  than  a  loosely  federated  collection  of 
local  and  contiguous  schools.  The  system  also  resulted, 
by  the  addition  of  territory  and  the  natural  growth  of  the 
cities,  in  the  development  of  large  and  unwieldy  boards  of 
education,  2  more  actuated  by  special  interests  than  by  the 

^  This  was  essentially  the  plan  in  operation  in  Chicago  from  the  organi- 
zation of  the  city  in  1835  to  the  consolidation  of  the  school  system  into 
one  city  system,  by  the  abolition  of  the  districts,  in  1857.  Phili>delphia 
and  Pittsburg  had  essentially  this  plan  untU  1905. 

2  A  few  examples  will  illustrate  this :  — 

Boston,  in  1818,  had  a  school  committee  (board)  of  24.  'in  that  year 
primary  schools  were  established,  and  a  primary  school  board  of  three 
citizens  was  provided  for  each.  By  1849  there  were  214  board  members 
serving  the  city.  After  reduction,  in  1854,  to  72  members,  six  for  each  of 
the  twelve  wards  of  the  city,  the  number  was  again  increased,  by  the 
annexation  of  new  wards,  to  116  by  1875,  when  the  number  was  reduced 
by  law  to  24.   The  city  now  has  a  board  of  five. 

Cincinnati's  board  of  education  increased  by  a  similar  process  from  10 
in  1837  to  50  in  1873. 

Philadelphia  represents  the  most  extreme  case,  the  board  being  com- 
posed of  six  members  from  each  ward,  and,  by  the  annexation  of  new 
territory,  came  to  consist  of  403  members  by  1880,  ^5  by  1889,  533  by 
1900,  and  559  by  1905.  In  that  year  the  number  was  reduced  by  state 
law  to  21,  and  in  1911,  to  15. 


80  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

general  good  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  under  which  prog- 
ress of  any  kind  became  increasingly  difficult. 

In  other  cities,  not  afflicted  with  the  district  system,  a 
committee  system  was  developed  as  a  means  of  dividing 
among  the  members  the  administrative  burdens  arising  from 
a  rapidly  expanding  and  developing  school  system.  From 
a  few  committees  at  first  the  number  was  gradually  in- 
creased, and  to  each  was  assigned,  subject  to  the  direction 
and  approval  of  the  whole  board,  the  performance  of  certain 
specified  duties,  such  as  the  employment  or  certification 
of  teachers,  the  building  or  repair  of  schools,  the  approval 
of  bills,  the  selection  of  textbooks,  or  the  formulation  of 
courses  of  study.  A  large  and  an  increasing  board  conse- 
quently became  an  advantage,  as  it  provided  more  members 
to  transact  the  constantly  increasing  business.  A  dozen  to 
a  score  of  standing  committees  in  time  came  to  be  not  un- 
common, while  Cincinnati  at  one  period  of  its  educational 
history  came  to  have  seventy-four  different  committees,  and 
Chicago,  seventy-nine. 

This  committee  form  of  school-board  organization  repre- 
sents the  first  stage  in  the  process  of  separating  the  legisla- 
tive and  the  executive  functions  in  the  control  of  a  city 
school  system. 

Evolution  of  professional  supervision.  The  next  step  in 
the  process  of  separation  was  the  evolution  of  the  pro- 
fessional school  superintendent,  appointed  or  elected  from 
without  the  board  of  education,  and  gradually  entrusted 
with  executive  functions  and  directed  to  act  in  the  name 
of  the  board.  With  the  development  and  expansion  of  the 
school  system  of  the  cities,  this  step  followed  as  naturally  as 
did  the  evolution  of  the  school  committee  or  the  board  out 
of  the  selectmen  or  the  town  council  at  an  earlier  date.  Our 
city  school  systems  may  be  said  to  have  reached  this  stage 
in  their  development  by  about  1875. 


^ee» 


»^^ 


^1 


Fig.  7.    GROWTH  OF  A  PROFESSIONAL  CONSCIOUSNESS 

Showing  the  development  of  administration  and  the  growth  of  sentiment  toward  central- 
ization as  indicated  by  the  number  of  articles  on  the  subject  in  each  number  of  the  annual 
proceedings  of  the  National  Teachers'  Association  and  National  Education  Association  — 
1857-1918.  (After  Chamberlain.)  With  the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  tie  World  War 
the  attention  of  the  Superintendents  was  directed  elsewhere,  as  the  chart  shows 


EVOLUTION  OF  CITY  ORGANIZATION  81 

The  unmistakable  tendency,  once  this  official  was  evolved, 
has  been  to  delegate  to  him  those  professional  functions 
relating  to  teachers  and  instruction,  as  well  as  many  of  the 
matters  relating  to  buildings  and  equipment,  the  board 
reserving  to  itself  advisory  control,  the  power  to  enact 
general  legislation,  and  the  control  of  the  finances  of  the 
schools.  Just  as  the  towns  originally  passed  these  functions 
over  to  special  representative  boards,  with  a  view  to  secur- 
ing more  intelligent  action,  so  such  boards  have  in  turn 
passed  these  functions  over  to  an  expert  officer,  and  with 
the  same  purpose  in  mind. 

The  dates  of  the  appointment  of  the  first  city  superin- 
tendents of  schools  have  been  given,  ^  and  the  statement 
was  made  there  that  their  duties  at  first  must  have  been 
quite  simple  and  limited.  Some  of  the  first  superintendents 
of  city  school  systems  were  not  even  school  men,^  and  their 
duties  were  more  those  of  a  school-board  clerk  or  business 
manager  of  to-day  than  those  of  a  modern  professional 
superintendent.  Gradually,  but  slowly,  with  the  growth  of 
the  cities,  the  widening  sphere  of  public  education,  the  in- 
crease in  the  complexity  of  the  school  system  maintained, 
the  increase  in  the  number  of  superintendents  employed, 
and  the   growth  of  a  professional    spirit   among   them,^ 

^  See  page  58. 

2  Cleveland  first  designated  the  secretary  of  the  school  board  as  "acting 
manager  of  schools,"  and  he  continued  in  this  capacity  for  twelve  years 
before  a  real  superintendent  of  schools  was  elected.  In  Jersey  City  the 
office  was  for  some  time  an  unsalaried  one,  and  was  held  by  merchants  and 
other  business  men,  who  performed  merely  nominal  duties.  Cincinnati  at 
first  elected  a  superintendent  from  among  the  citizenship,  and  by  popular 
vote,  just  as  members  of  the  school  board  were  secured. 

^  The  National  Association  of  School  Superintendents  was  organized  in 
1865,  and  held  its  first  meeting  in  Washington  in  February,  1866.  This 
organization  later  became  the  Department  of  Superintendence  of  the 
National  Education  Association,  and  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 
Most  of  the  important  discussions  of  supervisory  problems  have  taken 
place  before  this  body. 


82  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

boards  of  education  began  to  decrease  the  number,  impor- 
tance, and  activity  of  the  standing  and  special  commit- 
tees, and  to  direct  the  new  superintendent  of  schools  either 
to  investigate  conditions  and  needs  and  to  report  to  them 
with  recommendations  for  action,  or  to  act  in  their  name. 

Further  differentiation  of  executive  functions.  With  the 
still  more  rapid  growth  of  cities  since  1880,  and  the  still 
more  rapid  expansion  of  our  city  school  systems  since  that 
date,  even  further  specialization  of  functions  and  delega- 
tion of  authority  has  become  a  necessity,  if  intelligent  edu- 
cational service  is  to  be  rendered  to  the  community  sup- 
porting the  schools.  The  problems  relating  to  organization, 
instruction,  and  school  management  have  become  far  too 
technical  to  be  handled  successfully  by  the  ordinary  layman, 
while  the  business  and  clerical  work  has  so  increased  in 
quantity  as  to  demand  the  continuous  services  of  an  officer 
specially  capable  in  such  lines.  Even  more,  the  problems 
relating  to  instruction  and  school  organization  have  in 
themselves  so  differentiated  as  to  require,  in  our  larger 
cities,  a  division  of  executive  functions  among  a  number  of 
specially  trained  educational  officers. 

Large  boards,  ward  control,  and  the  committee  system  of 
school  administration  have  all  alike  proved  so  inadequate 
and  so  unsatisfactory,  under  modern  conditions  of  school 
organization  and  administration,  that  there  has  been  a 
marked  tendency,  within  the  past  quarter  of  a  century, 
toward  a  very  material  reduction  both  in  the  size  of  city 
school  boards  and  in  the  number  of  their  standing  com- 
mittees. There  has  also  been  a  marked  tendency  toward 
the  delegation  to  expert  officers,  not  members  of  the  board, 
of  many  of  the  powers  and  executive  functions  formerly 
possessed  and  exercised  by  the  city  school  boards.  Some- 
times this  has  come  about  by  tacit  understanding,  and 
sometimes  by  the  requirements  of  general  law. 


EVOLUTION  OF  CITY  ORGANIZATION  83 

The  result  has  been  the  evolution  of  what  might  be 
called  a  comprehensive  type  of  school  superintendent  in  our 
smaller  cities,  and  of  a  number  of  executive  officers  for  our 
larger  city  school  systems.  In  some  of  our  cities  and  states 
these  officers  have  been  clothed  by  law  with  certain  definite 
powers  and  duties  with  which  boards  of  education  cannot 
interfere,  or  at  most  over  which  they  can  exercise  only  a 
moderate  supervisory  authority.  On  the  business  side  has 
been  evolved  the  school  clerk,  or  secretary,  who  attends  to 
all  purely  clerical  functions,  and  the  business  manager,  who 
acts  in  the  name  of  the  board  in  most  financial  matters.  On 
the  educational  side,  in  addition  to  the  superintendent  of 
instruction,  have  come  supervisors  of  special  forms  of  in- 
struction, a  supervisor  of  health,  and  a  supervisor  of  school 
attendance.  In  between  the  two,  and  partaking  of  the  func- 
tions of  both  the  business  and  the  educational  sides,  has 
come  a  superintendent  of  school  buildings.  Other  executive 
officials,  of  more  or  less  importance  in  the  educational 
administration,  but  not  necessary  to  enumerate  here,  have 
also  been  evolved  to  meet  special  needs  in  different  city 
school  systems. 

Present  conceptions  as  to  school  control.  The  marked 
trend  of  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  in  city  school  admin- 
istration has  been  to  increase  the  importance  of  the  board 
of  education  as  a  legislative  body,  to  decrease  its  impor- 
tance as  an  executive  body,  and  to  centralize  authority  and 
responsibility  in  the  hands  of  one  or  more  well-trained 
and  capable  executive  officers,  with  the  city  superintendent 
of  schools  as  the  directing  and  coordinating  head  of  the  exec- 
utive organization.  These  executive  officers  are  responsible 
to  the  board,  and  the  board  in  turn  to  the  people.  The  func- 
tion of  a  city  board  of  education  has  become,  more  and  more, 
to  act  as  a  board  for  school  control,  —  representing  the 
people  on  the  one  hand  and  the  State  on  the  other.    Its 


84  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

powers  in  the  matter  of  finance  and  building  have  been 
materially  enlarged;  its  powers  to  legislate  and  direct, 
within  the  limits  set  by  general  law,  have  likewise  been 
expanded;  and  to  it,  in  conjunction  with  the  superintendent 
of  schools,  has  been  given  the  task  of  determining  the  local 
educational  policy  relating  to  public  education.  In  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  legislation  or  of  the  policy  determined  upon, 
however,  it  has  come  to  be  conceived,  more  and  more  clearly, 
to  be  in  the  interests  of  efficient  administration  for  the  board 
to  leave  all  executive  functions  to  carefully  chosen  execu- 
tive officers,  who  act  as  its  representatives.  In  this  regard 
the  evolution  of  city  school  control  has  kept  in  touch  with 
the  best  principles  of  corporation  management  and  control. 
It  is  at  this  point  in  the  evolution  of  city  school  organi- 
zation and  administration  that  we  take  up  the  problem  for 
more  detailed  consideration. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Burnham,  W.  H.    "Principles  of  Municipal  School  Administration";  in 
Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  92;  pp.  105-12.   (July,  1903.) 

Economy;  school  politics;  local  adaptation;  autonomy;  expert  administration;  civil 
service;  concentration  of  power  and  responsibility. 

Chamberlain,  A.  H.   Growth  of  Responsibility  and  Enlargement  of  Power  of 
the  City  School  Superintendent.   162  pp.   Univ.  Cal.  Pubs.;  Education. 
vol.  Ill,  no.  4,  1913. 
Section  4,  pp.  362-395,  cover  the  beginnings  and  the  expansion  of  the  city  office. 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.   "The  American  School  Superintendent";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  vii,  pp.  42-54.    (January,  1894.) 
A  good  general  article  on  the  evolution  of  supervision. 
Martin,  G.  H.    Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  School  System.    284  pp. 
Appleton,  New  York,  1894. 

A  very  readable  volume.    Traces  the  main  lines  of  the  evolution  of  educational  ad- 
ministration in  Massachusetts. 

Prince,  J.  T.  "Evolution  of  School  Supervision";  in  Educational  Review, 
vol.  22,  pp.  148-61.   (September,  1901.) 
A  brief  general  article,  dealing  with  the  evolution  in  Massachusetts. 
Suzzallo,  Henry.  Rise  of  Local  School  Supervision  in  Massachusetts.  154  pp. 
Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  3.  New  York,  1906. 

An  excellent  study  of  the  rise  of  the  school  committee  and  the  general  transference  of 
power  from  the  people  to  a  special  representative  board  in  matters  relating  to  education. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ORGANIZATION  OF  BOARDS  FOR  SCHOOL  CONTROL 

Special  governing  boards.  Special  school  boards  for  the 
control  of  the  educational  systems  of  our  cities  are  to-day 
an  almost  universal  feature  of  city-district  school  organi- 
zation. While  the  term  "  board  of  education  "  is  the  most 
common  designation  for  such  a  body,  the  term  "  school 
committee  "  (New  England),  "  school  board  "  (Minnesota), 
"  board  of  school  directors "  (Pennsylvania;  Oregon), 
"  board  of  school  trustees  "  (Indiana;  Montana),  "  board 
of  school  commissioners  "  (Baltimore;  Indianapolis),  and 
"  board  of  school  inspectors  "  (Peoria)  are  also  used.i 

There  is  no  generally  established  method  for  the  creation 
of  such  boards,  some  being  elected  by  wards,  some  elected 
at  large,  some  appointed  by  the  mayor  or  some  other  ap- 
pointive body,  and  some  owing  their  existence  to  special 
charters. 2   Many  boards  are  large;  some  are  small.    Some 

1  Practically  aU  of  these  titles,  and  very  naturally,  are  expressive  of  the 
earlier  conception  as  to  the  nature  of  the  functions  to  be  exercised  by  gov- 
erning boards  for  schools  in  cities.  In  the  light  of  our  best  present-day  con- 
ceptions as  to  the  nature  of  the  work  of  such  governing  bodies,  the  term 
"board  for  school  control"  would  be  a  better  one  for  future  use,  for  the 
reason  that  it  expresses  more  accurately  the  real  function  of  a  school 
board  in  any  city  where  modern  conceptions  as  to  its  work  prevail.  The 
term  "board  of  education"  has  gradually  become  a  misnomer,  and  its  use 
tends  to  continue,  in  the  minds  of  both  board  members  and  the  people,  a 
conception  that  it  is  the  function  of  such  bodies  to  continue  to  attempt  to 
exercise  technical  and  professional  functions  which  ordinary  laymen  are 
no  longer  competent  to  handle. 

2  Such  special  charters  were  quite  common  once,  when  some  communities 
-lesired  to  progress  and  others  did  not,  but  few  such  are  granted  now,  while 
many  States  prohibit  such  special  legislation.  Georgia  forms  an  excellent 
illustration  of  such  grants,  almost  every  city  of  any  size  in  the  State  having 
at  some  time  been  granted  a  special  educational  charter.   Four  counties  — 


86  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

still  retain  the  old  committee  system  in  full  strength;  some 
have  only  a  few  committees;  while  a  few  have  abolished 
standing  committees  entirely.  Some  are  both  legislative  and 
executive  bodies,  the  superintendent  of  schools  being  much 
in  the  nature  of  a  clerk  to  the  board;  some  divide  the  ex- 
ecutive functions  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  with  this  official; 
while  a  few  cities  have  clearly  separated  the  executive  from 
the  legislative  functions,  and  entrust  all  of  the  former  to 
paid  experts,  the  board  acting  entirely  as  a  board  of  control 
for  the  school  system  of  the  city  district. 

Recent  reorganizations.  So  rapid  has  been  the  growth  of 
our  cities,  and  so  recent  has  been  the  more  complex  develop- 
ment of  public  education  and  the  appointment  of  profes- 
sional experts  to  advise  and  to  direct,  that  practically  all  of 
our  cities,  up  to  a  relatively  few  years  ago,  possessed  an 
educational  organization  much  better  adapted  to  the  time 
when  they  were  villages  and  when  education  was  a  relatively 
small  and  simple  affair,  than  to  needs  and  conditions  now 
existing  in  a  growing  American  city.  Perhaps  a  large  ma- 
jority of  our  cities  are  still  in  this  condition.  Progress  in 
education  has  outrun  the  development  of  the  governing  law. 

Within  the  past  two  decades,  however,  a  number  of  our 
cities,  large  and  small,  have  effected  voluntary  or  compul- 
sory educational  reorganizations,  with  a  view  to  adapting 
better  the  administration  of  their  school  systems  to  the  needs 
of  the  future  in  matters  of  educational  organization  and 
administration.^   Such  reorganizations  have  come,  in  large 

Bibb,  Chatham,  Glynn,  and  Richmond  —  have  special  county  school 
systems,  which  include  the  cities,  towns,  and  rural  districts,  and  which  are 
largely  independent  of  the  state  school  laws.  In  Bibb  County  the  board 
consists  of  fifteen  members,  and  itself  fills  all  vacancies  in  its  membership. 
The  St.  Louis  board  also  had  this  power  from  1833  to  1897. 

^  The  following,  among  our  larger  cities,  illustrate  this  tendency:  — 
St.  Louis,  in  1897,  changed  from  a  ward  board  of  21  to  one  of  12  elected 
from  the  city  at  large,  and  with  the  powers  of  the  board  and  of  its  executive 
officers  clearly  defined. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  87 

part,  as  the  result  of  the  gradual  establishment  of  certain 
standards  relating  to  the  organization  and  work  of  city 
boards  of  education,  and  the  relationship  such  bodies  should 
bear  to  their  executive  officers  and  to  the  general  city  gov- 
ernment. 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  briefly  indicate  the  nature  of  such 
reorganizations,  and  state  what  these  standards  are  with 
reference  to  the  legal  organization  of  the  board  for  city 
school  control;  in  the  following  chapter  we  shall  state  what 
they  are  as  they  relate  to  the  work  and  proper  functions  of 
the  board. 

Tendencies  in  recent  reorganizations.  As  was  pointed  out 
in  the  previous  chapter,  the  tendency  has  been,  with  the 
evolution  of  the  professional  superintendent  and  the  dele- 
gation of  administrative  functions  to  experts,  to  reduce  the 
size  of  the  board,  to  curtail  both  the  number  and  the  work 
of  the  board  committees,  and  to  eliminate  all  ex-offi/do 
members  from  the  board.  By  this  means  the  board  is  re- 
duced to  a  small  and  businesslike  body,  and  transformed 
into  a  real  board  for  school  control. 

Within  recent  years  many  of  our  city  boards  of  education 
have  been  so  reduced  in  size  and  the  number  of  their  stand- 
ing committees  decreased,  with  a  view  to  securing  a  bet- 
ter educational  organization  for  the  administration  of  the 

San  Francisco,  in  1898,  changed  from  a  board  of  12  elected  along  ward 
lines  to  one  of  4  appointed  by  the  mayor. 

Baltimore,  in  1898,  changed  from  a  board  of  28  elected  along  ward  lines 
and  with  the  mayor  a  member  ex  officio  to  a  board  of  7  appointed  by  the 
mayor. 

Rochester,  in  1901,  changed  from  a  ward  board  of  16  to  a  board  of  5 
elected  at  large. 

Boston,  in  1905,  changed  from  a  ward  board  of  24  to  one  of  5  elected 
from  the  city  at  large. 

Philadelphia,  in  1905,  changed  from  a  series  of  43  elected  district  boards, 
consisting  of  559  members,  to  a  board  of  21  members  appointed  from  the 
city  at  large  by  the  judges  of  the  court  of  common  pleas.  In  1913,  the 
board  was  further  reduced  by  general  state  law  to  15  members. 


88 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


CITY 


population 

1910 


SIZE  OF  BOARD 

Formerly     Now 


Change  in  25  Years 


Albany 

Bridgeport 

Spokane 

Cambridge 

Lowell 

Nashville 

Grand  Rapids 

Dayton 

Fall  River 

Omaha 

Paterson 

Richmond 

Scran ton 

Memphis 

Birmingham 

INew  Haven 

Syracuse 

Worcester 

Oakland 

Atlanta 

Toledo 

Columbus 

Portland 

Denver 

St.Paul 

Rochester 

Xiouisville 

Providence 

Indianapolis 

Seattle 

Kansas  City 

Jersey  City 

Minneapolis 

lios  Angeles 

Washington 

New  Orleans 

Newark 

Cincinnati 

Milwaukee 

San  Francisco 

Buffalo 

Detroit 

Pittsburgh 

Baltimore 

Cleveland 

Boston 

St.  Louis 

Philadelphia 

Chicago 

New  York 


100 

102, 

104. 

104, 

106, 

110. 

112, 

116, 

119. 

124, 

125, 

127, 

129, 

131, 

132, 

133, 

137, 

145, 

150, 

154, 

168, 

181, 

207, 

213, 

214, 

218. 

223, 

224, 

233, 

237, 

248, 

267, 

301. 

319,198 

331,069 

339,075 

847,469 

863,591 
857 
912 
715 
766 
905 
485 
663 
.585 
029 
008 
283 
883 


253 

054 
402 
839 
294 
364 
571 
577 
295 
096 
600 
628 
867 
105 
685 
605 
249 
986 
174 
839 
497 
511 
214 
381 
744 
149 
928 
326 
650 
194 
,381 
779 
408 


373, 

416, 

423, 

465, 

533, 

558, 

560, 

670 

687, 

1,549 

2,185, 

4,766, 


Present  size 


I      I  Decrease  in  25  years 


Increase  in  25  years 


Fig  8.    TENDENCIES    OF    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    (1895-1920)    IN    SCHOOL 
BOARD  REORGANIZATIONS  IN  FIFTY  CITIES 


As  shown  by  the  fifty  cities  in  the  United  States  which  in  1910  had  over  100,000  inhab- 
itants. It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  relation  between  the  size  of  the  city  and  the  size  of  the 
school  board. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  89 

schools.  Sometimes  these  changes  have  come  as  a  result  of 
the  people  of  the  city  asking  for  an  amended  charter  or  a 
special  law.^  Most  of  the  earlier  reorganizations  came  about 
in  this  way.  More  recently  the  tendency  has  been  for  the 
State,  by  means  of  a  general  state  law,  and  without  waiting 
for  the  cities  to  act  voluntarily,  to  compel  a  reduction  in 
size  and  a  change  in  the  basis  of  selection  of  board  members 
for  all  cities  of  the  State,  doing  so  in  the  interests  of  a  more 
efficient  administration  of  the  schools  in  the  city  school 
districts. 2  Some  of  the  changes  produced  by  these  recent 
general  laws  have  been  large,  and  thoroughly  fundamental 
in  nature.^  Some  of  these  recent  laws  have  even  hmited  and 
specified  the  number  of  standing  committees  which  may  be 
created,  and,  most  important  of  all,  have  clearly  stated  that 

1  As,  for  example,  Cleveland,  which  substituted  a  board  of  7  elected  at 
large,  for  a  large  ward  board  in  1892;  Newark,  which  reduced  its  board 
from  32  to  9  in  1908;  San  Diego,  California,  which  substituted  a  board  of 
6,  elected  at  large,  for  a  ward  board  of  18  in  1909;  Newton,  Massachusetts, 
which  reduced  its  board  from  15  to  8  in  1910;  New  Orleans,  from  17  to  5  in 
1912;  and  Cincmnati,  from  29  to  7  in  1913. 

2  Under  such  general  state  laws  the  school  board  of  Indianapolis  was 
reduced  from  11  to  5,  and  Louisville  from  16  to  5.  Kansas,  in  1911,  by 
general  law  reduced  all  school  boards  in  cities  of  over  2000  inhabitants  to  6, 
to  be  elected  at  large;  and  Ohio,  in  1913,  reduced  all  city  boards  of  educa- 
tion to  5  or  7  members. 

^  In  Ohio,  as  a  result  of  general  laws  of  1904,  1908,  and  1913,  school 
boards  of  15  to  27  have  been  reduced  to  5  or  7. 

The  most  marked  reduction  has  come  as  a  result  of  the  Pennsylvania 
state  law  of  1911,  whereby  all  cities  were  classified,  and  the  size  of  their 
boards  determined,  as  follows :  — 


Class 

Population  of  City 

Size  of  Board 

1 

3 

4 

500,000  and  over 
30,000  to  499,999 
5,000  to  29,999 
Under  5000 

15 
9 
7 
5 

This  law  also  abolished  the  district  system  of  representation,  and  sub- 
stituted appointment  by  the  judges  in  the  two  first-class  cities,  and  election 
at  large  elsewhere.  The  result  of  this  law  was  to  reduce  the  board  of  educa- 
tion in  Philadelphia  from  24,  and  in  Pittsburgh  from  45,  to  15  each;  and 
in  Harrisburg  from  32,  in  Reading  from  64,  and  in  Williamsport  from  52, 
to  9  each. 


90  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

certain  executive  functions  must  be  delegated  to  specified 
executive  officers  to  be  appointed  by  the  board.  ^ 

As  a  result  of  the  discussion,  legislation,  and  experience 
of  the  past  two  decades  in  city  school  organization  and 
administration,  it  may  be  said  that  the  best  type  of  board 
for  educational  control  in  our  American  cities,  large  or 
small,  now  seems  to  be  a  small  board  —  five  or  seven  mem- 
bers being  the  most  desirable  numbers  —  with  no  ex-officio 
members;^  elected  from  the  city  at  large,  or,  perhaps,  ap- 
pointed by  the  mayor,  or  commission  for  the  city;  elected  for 
relatively  long  terms,  with  only  a  small  percentage  elected 
or  appointed  at  any  one  time,  and  with  not  too  long  con- 
tinuous service  for  any  one  member;  few  or  no  standing 
committees;  and  with  a  clear  differentiation  stated  in  the 
law  between  the  legislative  functions  of  the  board  and  the 
executive  functions  of  the  experts  of  the  department.  The 
reasons  for  the  impositions  of  such  standards  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  boards  of  school  control  for  city  school  districts  are 
about  as  follows:  — 

Size  of  school  boards.  The  experience  of  the  past  half- 
century,  in  city  school  administration  in  this  country,  is 
clearly  and  unmistakably  that  a  small  board  is  in  every 
way  a  more  effective  and  a  more  efficient  body  than  a  large 
one.    It  of  course  should  not  be  too  small,  as  very  small 

1  The  St.  Louis  law  is  a  good  example  of  this.  But  four  board  com- 
mittees are  provided  for,  namely,  —  Instruction,  School  Buildings,  Finance, 
and  Auditing  and  Supplies.  Five  executive  departments  are  also  provided 
for,  and  the  powers  and  duties  of  each  clearly  specified.  The  administration 
is  businesshke,  and  the  legislative  and  executive  functions  clearly  differ- 
entiated. 

2  It  used  to  be  a  somewhat  common  practice  to  include  the  mayor, 
ex  officio,  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  education,  but  the  plan  has  almost 
invariably  given  poor  results,  and  has  been  abandoned  generally.  The 
temptation  to  the  mayor,  who  is  primarily  a  political  personality,  is  always 
strong  to  play  politics  at  the  expense  of  the  schools,  and  the  elimination 
of  this  official  is  a  necessary  step  in  the  elimination  of  politics  from  the 
administration  of  public  education. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS 


91 


boards  tend  too  much  to  become  one-man  affairs,  and  the 
gain  that  comes  from  having  a  number  of  heads  consider  and 
discuss  a  proposition  is  lost.  On  the  other  hand,  a  few  men 
can  always  work  more  economically  and  more  efficiently 
than  can  a  large  body.  The  unquestioned  experience  of  our 
American  cities,  having  large  school  boards  or  city  councils, 
has  been  that  the  real  thinking  and  planning  and  executing 
is  usually  done  by  from  half  a  dozen  to  half  a  score  of  men 
within  the  group.   The  inevitable  result  is  cliques,  factions. 


I. 

Cities  of  over  100,000  inhabitants 

Size  of  Board 

Number  of  Cities 

Graphic  Distribution 

0 

1 

B 

3 
5 
6 

1 
14 

1 

B 

B 

"^^^^ 

7 

10 

■IHi 

9 

10 
8 

■■■■ 

11 

H^B 

12 

S 

mSM 

14 

S 

BIH 

15 

S 

warn 

16 

1 

u 

17 

1 

H 

Median 

7 

H 

Cities  of  from  25,000  to  100,000  inhabitants 


Fig.  9.    FREQUENCY  OF  SIZE  OF  SCHOOL  BOARD 

Given  for  two  groups  of  cities.  The  upper  half  of  the  chart  shows  the  distribution  for  the 
50  cities  which  in  1910  had  over  100,000  inhabitants;  the  lower  half  for  the  139  cities  which 
by  the  same  census  had  between  25,000  and  100,000  inhabitants. 


92  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  wheels  within  wheels  in  the  administration.  A  board 
of  five  or  seven  is  now  generally  regarded  as  the  most  desir- 
able size  for  all  but  perhaps  the  very  largest  cities,  and 
with  from  nine  to  fifteen  proposed  for  such  large  cities  as 
Chicago  and  New  York. 

The  small  board  is  far  less  talkative,  and  hence  handles 
the  public  business  much  more  expeditiously;  it  is  less  able 
to  shift  responsibility  for  its  actions;  it  cannot  so  easily  di- 
vide itself  up  into  small  committees,  and  works  more  effi- 
ciently and  intelligently  as  a  committee  of  the  whole;  and 
it  cannot  and  will  not  apportion  out  the  patronage  in  the 
way  that  a  large  ward  board  can  and  will  do.  A  large  board 
is  unwieldy  and  incoherent;  it  seldom  transacts  the  public 
business  quietly  and  quickly;  it  tends  too  frequently  to  be- 
come a  public  debating  society,  where  small  or  politically 
inclined  men  talk  loud  and  long  and  "  play  to  the  galleries  " 
and  to  the  press;  while  personal  and  party  politics,  and 
sometimes  lodge  and  church  politics,  not  infrequently  de- 
termine its  actions.  It  is  almost  always  divided  into  fac- 
tions, between  whom  there  is  continual  strife  and  rivalry, 
and  important  matters  are  usually  caucused  in  advance  and 
"  put  through  "  by  the  majority  at  that  moment  in  control. 
A  reduction  in  size  to  a  body  small  enough  to  meet  around 
a  single  table  and  discuss  matters  in  a  simple,  direct,  and 
business-like  manner,  under  the  guidance  of  a  chairman 
who  knows  how  to  handle  public  business,  and  then  take 
action  as  a  whole,  is  very  desirable.^ 

Basis  of  selection;  wards  vs.  at  large.  The  election  of 
school-board  members  from  city  wards  or  districts  is  a  sur- 
vival of  the  early  district  system  of  school  control,  and  the 

1  With  such  a  board,  long  evening  meetings  are  unnecessary.  If  the 
board  confines  itself  to  its  proper  work,  an  hour  a  week  will  transact  all  of 
the  school  business  which  the  board  should  handle.  There  is  no  more  need 
for  speeches  or  oratory  in  the  conduct  of  a  school  system  than  there  would 
be  in  the  conduct  of  a  national  bank. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS     93 

evidence  everywhere  is  against  the  continuance  of  this 
practice.  No  surer  means  for  perpetuating  the  personal  and 
political  evils  in  school  control  can  be  devised  than  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  ward  system  of  representation.  In  cities 
where  part  of  the  school  board  has  been  elected  at  large  and 
part  by  wards,  those  elected  at  large  have  almost  invariably 
proved  to  be  the  better  members.  In  cities  where  the  com- 
plete change  from  a  ward  board  to  a  smaller  one  elected  at 
large  has  been  made,  the  change  has  practically  always  re- 
sulted in  the  production  of  a  better  board  from  among  the 
body  of  the  electorate,  and  a  better  handling  of  the  business 
of  public  education.  The  larger  the  city  the  more  important 
that  the  ward  system  be  abandoned. 

The  tendency  of  people  of  the  same  class  or  degree  of 
success  in  life  to  settle  in  the  same  part  of  the  city  is  matter 
of  common  knowledge.  The  successful  and  the  unsuccessful; 
the  ones  who  like  strong  and  good  government,  and  the  ones 
who  like  weak  and  poor  government;  the  temperate  and  the 
intemperate  elements;  and  the  business  and  the  laboring 
classes;  —  these  commonly  are  found  in  different  parts  of 
a  city.  Wards  come  to  be  known  as  "  the  fighting  third," 
"  the  red-light  fourth,"  "  the  socialistic  ninth,"  or  "  the 
high-brow  fifth  ";  and  the  characteristics  of  these  wards  ^  are 

1  The  writer  once  knew  a  ward  board  composed  of  one  physician,  two 
business  men,  one  good  lawyer,  two  politician  lawyers  with  few  clients,  one 
bookkeeper,  one  blacksmith,  one  saloonkeeper,  one  buyer  of  hides  and 
tallow,  one  butcher,  one  druggist,  one  worker  in  a  lumber  yard,  one  retired 
army  officer,  one  man  of  no  occupation  except  general  opposition  to  any 
form  of  organized  government,  and  one  woman.  The  result  was  a  board 
divided  into  factions,  members  from  the  better  wards  having  but  little  in- 
fluence with  those  from  the  poorer  wards.  The  constant  danger  was  that 
the  less  intelligent  and  less  progressive  element  would  wear  out  the  better 
element  and  come  to  rule  the  board.  Important  measures  had  to  be  cau- 
cused in  advance  of  proposing  them  to  see  that  a  majority  was  a  probability. 
In  appointing  the  committees,  the  chairman  had  to  choose  between  having 
half  the  board  do  all  of  the  important  work,  or  of  placing  men  on  com- 
mittees for  which  they  were  wholly  unfitted. 


94 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  AX>MINISTRATION 


frequently  evident  in  the  composition  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation. The  young  and  ambitious  politician  not  infre- 
quently moves  into  an  '*  open  ward  '*  in  the  hope  of  securing 
an  election  there,  and,  when  elected,  makes  the  school 
board  a  stepping-stone  to  the  council  and  higher  political 


5 


© 


Best 


® 


Main 


Red-light 
district 


Higher  ground 

© 

residence 


® 


business 


wards 


© 


® 


street 


® 

Negro  ward 
shacks 


Fig.  10.     A  CITY  OF  NINE  WARDS 

The  three  wards  south  of  the  river  contain  the  poorer  classes  of  the  city.  Theae 
live  in  the  cheap  homes  south  of  the  railway  tracks.  Wards  1,  4,  and  7  lie  on  higher 
ground,  and  the  better  residences  of  the  city  are  in  these  three  vizards  and  in  the 
upper  edge  of  Wards  2,  5,  and  8.  The  business  district  of  the  city  parallels  the  river, 
and  lies  in  Wards  2,  5,  and  8. 

Wards  1,  4,  and  7  always  select  good  members  for  the  Board  of  Education,  while 
Wards  3,  6,  and  9  practically  always  select  poor  members.  The  fight  then  hinges 
around  Wards  2,  5,  and  8,  the  better  element  of  the  city  being  compelled  to  watch 
these  wards  carefully,  so  as  to  elect  good  men  from  at  least  two  of  these  three  wards. 

preferment.  Not  infrequently  the  school  janitor,  appointed 
in  the  first  place  as  a  reward  for  political  services,  becomes 
the  ward  boss  in  turn  and  dictates  the  nomination  of  the 
school-board  members. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  95 

One  of  the  important  results  of  the  change  from  ward 
representation  to  election  from  the  city  at  large,  in  any  city 
of  average  decency  and  intelligence,  is  that  the  inevitable 
representation  from  these  "  poor  wards  "  is  eliminated,  and 
the  board  as  a  whole  comes  to  partake  of  the  best  charac- 
teristics of  the  city  as  a  whole.  The  members  represent  the 
city  as  a  whole,  instead  of  wards;  they  become  interested  in 
the  school  system  as  a  unit,  instead  of  parts  of  it;  and  the 
continual  strife  in  boards  caused  by  men  who  represent  a 
constituency  instead  of  a  cause,  and  whose  efforts  are  con- 
stantly directed  toward  securing  funds,  teachers,  and  jani- 
tors for  the  school  or  schools  "  they  represent,"  is  largely 
eliminated. 

Under  the  ward  system  of  representation,  too,  it  is 
matter  of  common  knowledge  that  men  are  nominated  and 
elected  from  wards  who  could  not  be  nominated,  much  less 
elected,  from  the  city  at  large.  Better  men  are  almost  al- 
ways attracted  to  the  educational  service  when  election  from 
the  city  at  large,  and  for  relatively  long  terms,  is  substituted 
for  ward  representation.  A  man  of  affairs,  really  competent 
to  handle  the  educational  business  of  a  city,  often  cannot 
be  induced  to  accept  membership  on  a  large  ward  board 
because  of  the  great  waste  of  time  and  the  small  results 
attained.  If  the  management  of  a  school  system  is  political, 
or  personal,  or  petty,  the  best  men  tend  to  keep  off  the  school 
board,  which  in  turn  accentuates  the  trouble  and  brings  a 
constantly  poorer  quality  of  men  to  the  service. 

Appointment  vs.  election.  A  plan  tried  in  some  of  our 
cities,  but  one  less  in  favor  now  than  some  years  ago,  is  that 
of  having  the  mayor  of  the  city  appoint  the  board  members 
instead  of  their  being  elected.  This  plan  has  been  especially 
favored  for  large  cities.  In  small  cities  there  is  no  question 
but  that  election  at  large  by  popular  vote  is  the  more  de- 
sirable method,  and  even  for  large  cities  experience  seems 


96  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

to  indicate  that  the  results  are  about  equally  satisfactory.^ 
In  Philadelphia  appointment  by  the  court  of  common  pleas 
has  been  tried,  but  to  this  method  there  is  much  objection. 
The  judges  do  not  desire  the  responsibility,  and  it  should  not 
be  put  upon  them.  In  a  few  of  our  commission-governed 
cities  the  city  commission  appoints  the  school  board. 

So  far  as  the  objection  to  appointment  by  the  mayor  rests 
on  the  plea  that  it  "  removes  the  schools  farther  from  the 
people  "  is  concerned,  the  objection  is  of  little  weight.  Our 
city  executives  are  elected  by  and  represent  the  whole 
people,  and  are  usually  very  close  to  the  people,  at  least  to 
that  class  of  the  people  who  concern  themselves  most  with 
city  government,  and  they  represent  the  average  opinion  of 
such  very  well.  Too  often  this  is  one  of  the  most  serious  ob- 
jections to  such  a  method  of  appointment.  If  the  mayor 
is  of  a  distinctively  high  type,  and  deeply  interested  in  the 
public  welfare,  he  may  make  better  appointments  than  the 
popular-election  method  will  produce.  Too  often,  however, 
the  temptation  to  play  city  politics  at  the  expense  of  the 
schools  is  irresistible,  and  the  result  on  the  schools  is  dis- 
astrous. 

In  favor  of  appointment,  over  election  at  large,  is  the  be- 
lief that  the  mayor  can  be  held  responsible  for  bad  appoint- 
ments, and  that  he  can  select  with  greater  care  and  without 
reference  to  where  the  appointee  lives.  Against  such  ap- 
pointment is  the  close  personal  relationship  likely  to  exist 
between  the  mayor  and  the  appointees;  the  sense  of  obliga^ 
tion  resulting  in  a  return  of  favors;  the  mixing  of  city  gov- 
ernment and  school  government;  the  tendency  of  mayors  to 
interfere  with  the  administration  of  the  schools;  the  likeli- 
hood of  introducing  city  politics  into  appointments  and  the 

*  Election  by  the  people  and  at  large  has  certainly  given  better  results 
in  Boston,  St.  Louis,  and  Portland,  Oregon,  than  has  been  the  case  under 
appointment  by  the  mayor  in  New  York,  Chicago,  or  San  Francisco. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  97 

awarding  of  contracts;  and,  in  case  of  a  bad  mayor,  the  ease 
with  which  the  school  system  may  be  demoraHzed. 

San  Francisco,  in  1921,  began  a  trial  of  a  combination 
method  of  appointment  which  may  prove  useful.  Under  it 
the  mayor  nominates  the  school  board  members,  sixty  days 
before  the  city  election,  and  the  people  then  vote,  at  large, 
to  approve  or  to  disapprove  his  nominees. 

Term  of  office,  and  elections.  It  used  to  be  a  common 
practice  to  elect  the  school  committee  or  school  board 
annually,  and  the  survivals  of  this  custom  are  still  found  in 
many  of  our  cities.  In  a  few  the  entire  school  board  is 
elected  annually  or  biennially,  and  in  many  cities  half  the 
members  are  elected  at  each  annual  or  biennial  election.^ 

Short  terms  of  oflBce  and  rapidly  changing  membership 
do  not  produce  conditions  conducive  to  good  school  ad- 
ministration, and  do  not  attract  the  best  men  to  the  service. 
In  cities  where  all  or  even  a  majority  of  a  school  board 
change  at  one  time,  neither  the  school  board  nor  the  super- 
intendent of  schools  can  plan  and  execute  any  long-time 
educational  policy;  and  both  are  forced  to  consider,  al- 
together too  much  for  the  good  of  the  schools,  what  it  is 
expedient  to  do.  Better  men  are  attracted  to  the  service  by 
a  longer  term  of  oflSce  and  a  relatively  stable  membership. 
The  new  member  can  be  gradually  initiated  into  the  work 
and  ideals  of  the  board,  and  an  educational  policy  can  be 
planned  and  carried  out  over  a  longer  period  of  time. 
School  election  contests,  based  on  a  desire  to  change  the 
character  of  the  administration,  are  much  less  frequent,  and 
a  radical  change  in  educational  policy  scarcely  ever  results 
from  one  election.  If  the  superintendent  of  schools  is  also 
given  a  relatively  long  term,  the  conditions  are  very  favor- 
able for  eflScient  and  progressive  educational  administration. 

^  If  one  half  are,  theoretically,  new  at  each  election,  practically  a 
majority,  due  to  deaths  or  resignations,  has  to  be  elected  each  time. 


98  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

From  three  to  five  years  would  seem  to  be  the  most  de- 
sirable length  of  term  for  school-board  membership.  Where 
the  board  consists  of  three  or  five,  one  should  be  elected 
each  year,  and  for  a  three-  or  a  five-year  term.  In  case  of  a 
board  of  seven,  the  election  of  one,  two,  two,  and  two  each 
succeeding  year  would  seem  most  desirable.  The  larger  the 
membership,  the  longer  should  be  the  tenure. 

It  will  at  once  be  objected  that  city  or  state  elections 
usually  come  only  biennially,  and  that  an  annual  election 
of  school-board  members  is  therefore  impossible.  Such  ob- 
jections usually  come  from  the  man  who  is  not  interested  in 
making  it  possible.  The  divorce  of  school-board  elections 
from  city  or  state  political  contests  is  in  itself  very  desir- 
able, and  this  is  done  in  a  number  of  cities.  Such  board 
members  should  be  elected  at  a  spring  school  election,  con- 
ducted in  a  simple  manner  at  the  schoolhouses  and  without 
reference  to  the  Australian  system  of  balloting,  and  names 
should  be  placed  on  the  ballot  without  party  or  other  desig- 
nation. If  more  than  one  person  is  to  be  voted  for  for  the 
same  place,  say  three,  the  position  of  any  one  name  should 
be  different  on  each  third  of  the  ballots.  Such  elections  are 
conducted  in  many  places  in  a  simple,  inexpensive,  and 
thoroughly  satisfactory  manner.^ 

Pay  for  services.  A  few  communities  pay  their  board 
members  either  a  per-diem  or  a  yearly  fixed  sum.  Five  or 
ten  dollars  a  meeting,  and  the  number  of  meetings  limited 
to  four  or  five  a  month,  is  occasionally  found.  A  fixed  sum, 
such  as  $100  a  year,  is  also  occasionally  found.   Rochester, 

1  The  confusion  of  the  city  school-district  organization  with  that  of 
the  city  municipal  government  is  in  large  part  responsible  for  this  idea 
that  the  elections  must  be  held  at  the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  methods. 
In  Portland,  Oregon,  for  example,  where  the  school-district  government 
has  been  kept  clear  and  distinct  from  the  city-hall  government,  the  school 
elections  have  been  held  quietly  each  June,  irrespective  of  the  biennial  city 
election  in  May.   A  number  of  California  cities  now  follow  the  same  plan. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  99 

in  its  reorganization  of  1901,  provided  for  a  yearly  salary  of 
$1200  a  year  for  each  board  member,  and  San  Francisco,  in 
the  reorganization  of  1898,  provided  for  a  board  of  four 
members,  to  be  paid  $3000  each,  and  required  to  devote  their 
entire  time  to  the  work  of  the  school  board.  In  a  bill  before 
the  New  York  Legislature  of  1911  for  the  reorganization 
of  the  New  York  City  school  board,  but  which  brought  forth 
bitter  opposition  and  finally  failed  of  passage,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  reduce  the  school  board  from  forty-six  to  seven  in 
number,  the  president  to  be  paid  $10,000  a  year,  and  each 
of  the  members  $8000.  This  was  much  the  same  plan  as  was 
followed  in  San  Francisco  to  1922.  In  the  controversy  over 
this  proposal  the  fundamental  principles  underlying  paid 
and  unpaid  boards  were  fully  brought  out.^ 

It  may  be  accepted  as  a  fundamental  principle  in  Ameri- 
can educational  administration  that  a  school  board  should 
not  be  paid  for  its  services.  In  all  of  our  cities  there  has 
never  been  any  difficulty  in  securing  the  services  of  an 
unpaid  board,  and  there  is  not  likely  to  be.  Our  schools  lie 
so  close  to  the  interests  and  hopes  of  parents  and  public- 
spirited   citizens   that  there  is  not  likely  to  exist,   once 

^  See  especially  seven  letters  between  Mayor  Gaynor  and  President 
Nicholas  Murray  Butler  on  the  subject,  reprinted  in  the  Educational  Review 
for  September,  1911  (vol.  xlii,  pp.  204-10),  and  the  letter  of  Mr.  C.  W. 
Bardeen,  of  Syracuse,  to  the  President  of  the  Public  Education  Association 
of  New  York,  reprinted  in  the  same  journal  for  October,  1911  (vol.  xlu, 
pp.  322-24). 

Mr.  Bardeen,  among  other  things,  said:  — 

"The  only  object  of  the  paid  board  of  education,  as  the  proposed  pro- 
visions show,  is  to  substitute  its  authority  for  the  authority  now  vested  in 
the  superintendent;  in  other  words,  to  substitute  the  amateur  for  the 
expert;  the  theorist  for  the  man  who  has  tried;  the  lawyer,  the  merchant, 
the  physician,  for  men  who  have  had  equally  long  and  severe  training  in  the 
business  of  teaching.  Mayor  Gaynor  would  not  think  of  proposing  a  judi- 
ciary board  made  up  of  leading  public  men  who  should  dictate  to  the  supe- 
rior court  judge  what  his  decisions  should  be,  and  yet  the  superintendents 
of  New  York  are  quite  as  expert  in  their  subject  and  chosen  quite  as  care- 
fully as  the  justices  of  the  supreme  bench." 


100  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

make  the  conditions  and  the  office  right,  any  trouble  in  en- 
listing the  cooperation  of  men  and  women  who  will  be 
willing  to  serve  the  schools,  for  a  term  of  years,  without 
any  pay. 

Origin  of  pay  proposals.  All  proposals  to  pay  members 
come  from  other  than  students  of  educational  administra- 
tion. It  is  not  the  lack  of  pay  which  keeps  those  best  quali- 
fied to  serve  off  our  school  boards,  while  even  a  small  salary 
attached  to  the  office  makes  it  attractive  to  just  the  type  of 
man  who  ought  not  to  be  selected  for  board  member  at  all. 
A  salary  is  all  the  more  dangerous  an  incentive  where  the 
people  elect  the  board  members. 

Practically  all  proposals  to  attach  a  salary  to  the  office  of 
a  school-board  member  are  based  on  a  complete  misunder- 
standing as  to  what  are  the  proper  functions  of  a  city  board 
for  school  control.^  These  we  shall  elaborate  in  the  succeed- 
ing chapter,  but  suffice  it  to  say  here  that  it  is  not  the  proper 
function  of  a  school  board  to  administer  the  schools  in  any 
detail,  and  there  is  no  work  which  the  members  can  do  to 
earn  any  salary  worth  mentioning  without  interfering  with, 
or  doing  over  again,  the  work  of  the  professional  officer  or 
officers  of  the  school  system.  An  ideal  board  member  is  a 
man  accustomed  to  handle  business  matters  promptly,  to 
consider  the  recommendations  of  superintendents,  princi- 
pals, and  business  officers  in  a  broad  and  unbiased  manner, 
and  to  pass  judgment  on  affairs  of  expenditure  or  policy. 
Such  men  do  not  serve  for  pay,  nor  will  they  devote  all  of 
their  time  to  the  business  of  the  schools.  A  per -diem  basis 
of  pay  tends  to  multiply  meetings,  and  leads  to  the  exer- 
cise of  functions  which  boards  should  let  alone;  while  an 
annual  salary  of  any  size  tends  to  make  the  office  a  job, 
fills  the  board  with  a  mediocre  membership,  and  leads  to 

^  This  is  well  shown  in  Mayor  Gaynor's  letters.  He  entirely  miscon- 
ceived the  function  of  a  board  of  education. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  101 

unnecessary  interference  with  the  proper  work  of  the  board's 
executive  ofiicers.-^ 

Commission  form  of  government  and  the  schools.  A  new 
departure  in  the  administration  of  city  school  systems  has 
recently  been  made  in  a  few  of  our  cities  where  the  commis- 
sion form  of  government  has  been  introduced.  In  some  of 
these  the  board  of  education  for  the  city  school  district  has 
been  abolished,  and  the  school  system  has  been  incorporated 
as  a  department  of  the  commissioned-governed  city.  In 
such  cases  either  one  commissioner  exercises  a  special  super- 
vision over  the  school  department,  or  the  city  commission- 
ers pass  upon  school  matters  as  a  body.  In  some  other  cities 
the  board  of  education  is  retained,  the  commissioners  for 
the  city  merely  succeeding  the  people  or  the  mayor  in  the 
one  function  of  appointing  the  board,  and  perhaps  also  in 
determining  the  amount  of  school  funds  to  be  placed  under 
its  control. 

That  there  is  a  tendency  toward  the  simplification  of  city 
government,  and  the  placing  of  all  city  departments  under 
one  small  board  of  control,  is  unmistakable.  The  inclusion 
of  the  schools  as  one  of  the  departments  of  the  commission- 
governed  city  seems  a  perfectly  logical  thing  to  do,  but,  not- 
withstanding a  few  apparently  successful  experiments  here 
and  there,  ^  it  is  nevertheless  as  yet  a  somewhat  question- 
able proceeding.   Whatever  the  future  may  bring  forth  in 

^  San  Francisco  has  proved  to  be  an  excellent  example  of  this.  There 
the  board  of  education  has  become  virtually  a  board  of  superintendents, 
reducing  the  proper  supervisory  force  to  the  rank  of  clerks.  This  situation 
developed  almost  from  the  first.  See  "School  Situation  in  San  Francisco," 
in  Educational  Review,  April,  1901  (vol.  xxi,  pp.  364-83), 

2  Sacramento,  California,  a  city  of  65,000  inhabitants,  is  an  example  of 
this  type.  An  elected  city  commission  of  five  governs  the  city,  one  of  whom 
is  the  commissioner  for  schools.  This  commission  has  so  far,  by  employing 
a  new  superintendent  and  inaugurating  a  new  progressive  policy,  done 
much  to  improve  the  schools,  but  the  election  of  a  new  commissioner  of  a 
different  type  might  at  once  jeopardize  much  of  what  has  been  secured 
by  the  recent  reform. 


102  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  matter  of  improving  municipal  administration,  we  as  a 
people  have  not,  as  yet,  attained  to  the  conception  of  the 
purpose  of  public  education  and  the  standards  in  its  admin- 
istration which  would  make  the  turning-over  of  the  schools 
to  the  control  of  the  city  government  a  wise  thing  to  do.^ 

If  the  commission  control  extends  only  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  school  board,  action  by  the  commission  taking 
the  place  of  popular  election  or  appointment  by  the  mayor, 
and  to  the  replacing  of  the  city  council  in  the  determination 
of  the  school-board  funds,  ^  then  the  plan,  instead  of  being 
objectionable,  may  be  quite  commendable.  In  these  two 
matters  of  administration  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment is  very  likely  to  result  in  an  improvement  in  educa- 
tional administration,  but  in  most  other  respects  the  school 
system  is  more  likely  to  prosper  if  operated  by  a  separate 
small  board  of  control,  and  under  the  provisions  of  the 
general  educational  law  of  the  State. 

Dependence  on  vs.  independence  of  the  city  govern- 
ment. In  the  present  stage  of  the  development  of  munici- 
pal government  the  student  of  educational  administration 
is  thankful  that  the  schools  are,  at  their  foundation  at  least, 
state  and  not  local  affairs,  and  that  a  constantly  growing 
body  of  school  law  regulates  and  controls  many  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  conduct  of  the  schools  within  the  cities.  As  was 
pointed  out  in  Chapter  VI,  the  chief  danger  in  such  con- 
trol lies  in  that  the  state  oversight  may  become  too  narrow 
and  too  restrictive  in  matters  where  local  liberty  should  be 
granted. 

The  most  important  work  of  any  community  is  that  of 
providing  public  education  for  its  children.  In  its  deeper 
significance  this  work  completely  transcends  in  importance 

^  This  is  discussed  again  in  Chapter  XXV,  under  the  head  of  the  tax- 
levying  power. 

2  This  is  essentially  the  Houston,  Texas,  plan.  See  the  article  by  Horn, 
in  Educational  Review,  April,  1909. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  103 

the  work  of  the  street,  police,  fire,  or  any  other  city  admin- 
istrative department.  It  looks  primarily  to  the  future, 
rather  than  to  the  present,  and  its  aim  is  clearly  to  improve 
upon  conditions  now  existing.  It  is  chiefly  because  of  this 
larger  and  more  distant  aim  of  education  that  the  work  of 
the  schools  is  so  frequently  misunderstood  by  the  people. 

The  ordinary  citizen  and  the  schools.  The  ordinary  citi- 
zen, the  average  lawyer,  the  city  official,  and  all  who  like  to 
see  a  logical  city  administrative  organization,  find  it  hard 
to  understand  why  students  of  educational  administration 
object  to  such  a  logical  subordination  of  the  schools.^ 
With  them  the  school  service  is  regarded  as  practically  on 
the  same  plane  as  other  mimicipal  service.  Consequently 
contracts  should  be  properly  distributed  locally,  and  jobs 
should  be  properly  passed  around  among  the  daughters  of 
the  electorate.  The  meaning  of  competency  in  school  work 
is  scarcely  understood,  and  the  poor  teacher  or  janitor  has 
a  large  hold  on  their  sympathy.  That  the  result  is  deaden- 
ing and  disastrous  to  the  finer  work  of  the  schools,  that  the 
teachers  and  administrative  officers  do  not  do  their  best 
work  under  such  conditions,  and  that  the  intellectual  life 
and  moral  tone  of  the  city  is  lowered  in  consequence,  they 
cannot  see. 

That  plundering  the  schools  is  not  on  a  par  with  plunder- 
ing the  public  treasury  they  also  cannot  see.  If  money  is 
illegally  or  unnecessarily  taken  from  the  public  treasury  the 
tax  rate  is  only  raised  a  little.  In  time,  if  the  mismanage- 
ment becomes  too  bad,  the  grand  jury  investigates,  there 
is  a  municipal  house  cleaning,  the  charter  or  the  form  of 
government  is  perhaps  changed,  and  all  is  well  once  more. 
If  the  schools,  however,  are  plundered  through  contracts 
and  building  operations  and  degraded  by  the  employment 

^  This  was  clearly  apparent  in  the  Butler-Gaynor  letters,  to  which  ref- 
erence has  previously  been  made. 


104  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  retention  of  incompetent  place-hunters,  the  penalty  is 
not  only  a  higher  tax  rate,  but  a  lower  moral  tone  and  a 
weakened  intellectual  life  for  the  city,  the  influence  of  which 
extends  throughout  the  whole  of  the  life  of  the  generation  of 
children  then  in  the  schools.  This,  also,  the  ordinary  lawyer, 
mayor,  or  "  man  in  the  street  '*  does  not  see,  and  can 
scarcely  be  made  to  appreciate.  Because  the  student  of 
educational  administration  does  appreciate  these  differences, 
and  because  he  knows,  from  the  experience  of  cities  gener- 
ally, how  easy  it  is  to  subordinate  educational  efficiency  to 
political  expediency,  he  does  not  favor  any  more  connec- 
tions between  the  city  government  and  the  school  depart- 
ment than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Laws  that  put  the 
school  department  at  the  mercy  of  the  city  council  are  un- 
sound in  principle,  and  frequently  lead  to  deplorable  results. 

Disadvantages  of  city  control.  The  school  boards  of  our 
cities  almost  always  lay  larger  claim  to  character,  fitness, 
and  disinterestedness  than  do  members  of  the  city  council 
in  the  same  city,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  far  more  respect- 
able and  responsible.  ^  One  important  step  in  the  elimina- 
tion of  politics  from  city  school  administration  is  the  almost 
complete  separation  of  the  school  department  from  the 
municipal  government. 

Subordination  to  the  mayor  also  frequently  leads  to  a 
similar  situation.  Not  many  mayors  are  wise  enough  to 
keep  their  hands  off  the  school  department,  and  any  school 
system  in  which  the  board  members  need  to  consult  the 
mayor  before  taking  important  action  is  one  in  which  the 
educational  policy  is  likely  to  be  both  vacillating  and  weak. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  school  board  which  can  act  inde- 
pendently of  municipal  control,  consulting  only  the  edu- 
cational needs  of  the  school  district,  and  can,  within  the 

1  See  A.  S.  Draper,  "Plans  for  Organization  for  School  Purposes  in  Large 
Cities,"  in  Educational  Review,  June,  1893. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  105 

limits  set  by  law,  certify  or  levy  the  funds  needed  for  school 
maintenance,  is  a  board  which  is  likely  to  carry  forward  a 
strong  and  a  continuously  progressive  educational  policy, 
and  one  likely  to  develop  a  school  system  which  will  render 
valuable  service  in  improving  the  intelligence  and  the  moral 
tone  of  the  community. 

Both  types  of  administrative  organization  for  the  school 
departments  are  represented  in  our  American  cities.^ 
Toledo,  Indianapolis,  St.  Louis,  Portland  (Oregon),  or  Los 
Angeles  represents  the  type  of  separate  organization.^  In 
each  the  school  system  is  a  separate  and  distinct  organi- 
zation, has  its  own  funds,  looks  after  its  own  plant,  and 
manages  its  schools  in  the  interests  of  the  education  of  its 
children.  Providence,  Schenectady,  Baltimore,  and  San 
Francisco  offer  examples  of  the  close  city-control  type, 
the  school  department  being  quite  dependent  on  the  city 
authorities  for  its  funds,  and  upon  other  city  departments 
for  semi-educational  service.  This  dependence,  in  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  finances,  will  be  considered  further  in  Chap- 
ter XXV. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  is  action  by  the  State  in  fixing,  by  general  law,  the  size  and 
method  of  selection  of  the  board  of  education  justified  ? 

2.  Why  is  a  board  small  enough  to  meet  around  a  single  table  more  likely 
to  transact  the  public  business  quietly  and  expeditiously  than  one  where 
the  members  have  separate  tables  or  desks  scattered  about  the  room? 

3.  In  Indiana,  for  many  years,  the  city  council  appointed  the  school 
boards,  one  member  each  yearfor  a  three-year  term.  This  worked  fairly 

^  At  this  point  only  the  general  proposition  of  city  control  is  discussed, 
postponing  to  Chapter  XXV  the  bearing  of  such  control  on  the  levying  of 
taxes  and  the  authorization  of  building  expenses. 

2  For  a  description  of  the  St.  Louis  organization,  see  article  by  C.  W. 
Eliot,  in  Report  of  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1903,  vol.  ii,  pp.  1356- 
62.  The  complex  Schenectady  organization  is  given  in  Report  of  U.S. 
Commissioner  of  Education,  1913,  vol.  i,  pp.  99-100.  The  two  make  a  good 
comparison  in  matters  of  educational  organization. 


106  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

well  there,  but  has  since  been  abandoned  by  all  the  larger  cities.  What 
is  your  judgment  as  to  this  method,  and  why? 

4.  What  is  your  judgment  as  to  the  Sacramento  method,  and  why? 

5.  What  is  your  judgment  of  the  Houston  method,  and  why? 

6.  What  is  the  fundamental  defect  in  any  such  logical  city  organization 
for  the  work  of  the  educational  department  as  is  represented  by  Sche- 
nectady or  San  Francisco? 

7.  Is  Draper's  argument  for  separate  organization  for  the  schools  sound? 

8.  In  a  few  of  our  cities  local  or  district  school  boards  exist,  largely  for 
local  purposes,  in  addition  to  the  central  board  of  education.  Read  the 
article  on  "  City  Schools,  Local  Boards  "  in  Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Edu- 
cation, and  state  your  opinion  of  the  advisability  of  such  boards,  either 
for  assisting  in  school  control  or  for  visitation. 

9.  Would  it  be  a  good  idea  to  permit  boards  of  education  to  elect  their  suc- 
cessors, as  is  done  somewhat  commonly  in  college  government?  Why? 

10.  Can  a  scheme  be  provided  which  will  insure  a  city  a  school  board  of  a 
type  much  in  advance  of  the  general  tone  and  character  of  the  city 
itself?  If  possible,  how  far  would  it  be  desirable  to  do  so? 

11.  Eliot  says  that  after  two  terms  there  should  be  a  break  in  membership; 
that  is,  after  the  completion  of  the  second  term,  a  member  should  be 
ineligible  for  membership  until  after  a  lapse  of  at  least  one  year.  Is 
this  a  good  idea,  or  not?  Why? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  What  method  is  used  in  constituting  city  boards  of  education  in  your 
State?  What  is  their  present  size  and  term,  and  what  tendencies  in 
school-board  organization  have  been  manifest  in  your  State  during 
the  past  two  decades? 

2.  Are  school  boards  paid  in  your  State?  If  so,  how  much,  and  with  what 
results? 

3.  After  reading  the  articles  by  De  Weese,  The  Dial,  Jones  and  the  dis- 
cussion following,  Mowry,  and  Tufts,  what  is  your  judgment  as  to 
appointed  or  elected  boards? 

4.  After  reading  the  Butler-Gaynor  correspondence,  the  Bardeen  letter, 
and  the  article  describing  the  San  Francisco  situation,  what  is  your 
judgment  as  to  paying  boards  of  education  for  their  services?  Why? 

5.  Contrast  the  Schenectady  organization,  as  outlined  in  the  Report  of  the 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  (1913,  vol.  i,  pp.  99-100),  with  the 
St. Louis  organization  (Eliot).  Which  is  the  more  likely  to  produce  good 
educational  organization  and  administration,  and  why? 

6.  Outline,  in  the  form  of  a  charter  provision  or  a  law,  your  ideas,  as  a 
result  of  the  discussion  of  this  chapter,  as  to  the  best  plan  for  the  or- 
ganization of  a  school  board  for  some  small  or  medium-sized  city  which 
you  know. 


ORGANIZATION   OF   SCHOOL  BOARDS  107 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Bard,  H.  E.   The  City  School  District.  118  pp.  Trs.  Col.  Contrib.  to  Educ, 

no.  28;  New  York,  1909. 

Chapter  I,  pp.  43-64,  is  on  the  work  of  boards  of  education,  giving  conditions  found 
at  the  time. 

Butler-Gaynor.  "Should  New  York  City  have  a  Paid  Board  of  Educa- 
tion?" in  Educational  Review,  vol.  xlii,  pp.  204-10.  (September, 
1911.) 

Seven  letters  on  the  subject.  The  question  is  well  stated.  See  also  the  Bardeen 
letter  in  the  October  issue  of  the  same  journal  (pp.  322-24)  and  later  comment  in  the 
November  issue  (pp.  429-31). 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools:  their  Administration  and  Supervision. 
434.  pp.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1904. 

Chapter  II  is  very  good  on  the  school  board  and  its  work.  Gives  many  good  illustra- 
tions. 

Chicago,  Illinois.  Report  of  the  Educational  Commission  of.  248  pp.  Chicago, 
1899.  Reprinted  by  the  University  of  Chicago  Press. 

Article  I  deals  with  the  fundamental  principles  relating  to  the  organization  of  the 
board  of  education.  An  important  document. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  "The  School  Situation  in  San  Francisco";  in  Educational 
Revieiv,  vol.  xxi,  pp.  364-83.   (April,  1901.) 

Describes  the  situation  in  a  city  where  the  school  department  is  a  part  of  the  munic- 
ipal administration,  and  the  board  of  education  is  a  paid  body. 

De  Weese,  T.  A.    "Better  city  school  administration";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  xx,  pp.  61-71.   (June,  1900.) 
A  good  article  on  school-board  organization. 
Dial,  The.   Editorial  on  "Elective  School  Boards";  reproduced  in  Educa- 
tional Review,  vol.  xxvii,  pp.  537-40.   (May,  1904.) 

A  strong  editorial  on  the  meaning  of  an  elected  board  in  Chicago.  Favors  appoint- 
ment. 

Draper,  A.  S.  "  Plans  of  Organization  for  School  Purposes  in  Large  Cities  " ; 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  vi,  pp.  1-16.    (June,  1893.) 
States  the  fundamental  lines  of  administrative  reform.  An  able  article. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  Administration  of  Public  Education  in  the 
United  States.   614  pp.   Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  2d  ed.,  1908. 

Chapters  VIII  and  IX  contain  a  general  discussion  of  the  proper  constitution  and 
work  of  a  school  board. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.  "  A  Good  Urban  School  Organization";  in  Report  of  U.  S. 
Commissioner  of  Education,  1903,  vol.  ii,  pp.  1356-62. 

Describes  the  reorganized  St.  Louis  sj'stem.  A  good  article,  describing  a  system 
which  operates  independently  of  the  municipal  corporation. 

Eliot,  E.  C.  "A  Non-Partisan  School  Law";  in  Proceedings  of  the  National 
Education  Association,  1905,  pp.  223-231. 

A  good  article,  describing  the  origin,  establishment,  and  working  of  the  St.  Louis 
law. 


108  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Ellis,  D.  A.  *' A  Decade  of  School  Administration  in  Boston";  in  Proceed- 
ings of  the  National  Education  Association,  1910,  pp.  987-92. 

Describes  reforms  resulting  from  the  reduction  of  the  school  board  from  twenty-four 
to  five  members. 

Horn,  P.  W.   "  City  Schools  under  the  Commission  Form  of  City  Govern- 
ment"; in  Educational  Review,  vol.  xxxvii,  pp.  362-74.  (April,  1909.) 
Describes  the  Houston,  Texas,  plan. 
Jones,  L.  H.   "The  Best  Method  of  electing  School  Boards";  in  Proceed- 
ings of  the  National  Education  Association,  1903,  pp.  158-63. 
Good  discussion  follows  paper,  and  a  number  of  views  are  set  forth. 
Mowry,  D.  "The  Elective  Board  of  Education";  in  The  Dial,  vol.  xxxiii, 
pp.  82-84.   (August  16,  1902.) 

Favors  popular  election  instead  of  mayor-appointed  small  boards,  as  advocated  by 
Rollins. 

Nearing,  S.  "The  Workings  of  a  Large  Board  of  Education";  in  Educa- 
tional Review,  vol.  xxxviii,  pp.  43-51.   (June,  1909.) 

Contrasts  Philadelphia  with  Albany,  Rochester,  and  Boston.   Shows  the  popular 
fallacy  of  large  boards. 

Rollins,  F.  School  Administration  in  Municipal  Government,  106  pp.  Col. 
Univ.  Contribs.  to  Phil.,  Psy.  and  Educ,  vol.  xi,  no.  1;  New  York, 
1902. 

Chapter  II  gives  a  general  outline  of  existing  conditions.    Favors  small  boards, 
appointed  by  mayor  for  long  terms. 

Strayer,  G.  D.  "The  Baltimore  School  Situation";  in  Educational  Review, 
vol.  XLii,  pp.  325-46.   (November,  1911.) 

Describes  a  situation  in  a  city  where  the  schools  are  a  part  of  the  city  administrative 
organization. 

Tufts,  J.  H.  "Appointive  or  Elective  Boards  of  Education  ";  in  School 
Review,  vol,  xvi,  pp.  136-38.   (February,  1908.) 

A  good  article.  Opposes  appointment  for  Chicago.  Good  statement  on  the  subor- 
dination or  independence  of  the  school  department. 


CHAPTER  IX 

FUNCTIONS  OF  BOARDS  FOR  SCHOOL  CONTROL 

The  board  as  a  body.  The  board  for  school  control,  how- 
ever constituted  and  by  whatever  official  title  it  may  be 
known,  is  the  successor  in  point  of  authority  of  the  old  town 
or  district  meeting,  in  which  the  people  met  and  represented 
themselves.  There  they  voted  taxes  for  the  support  of  the 
school,  selected  a  teacher  or  appointed  a  committee  to  do  so 
for  them,  and  then  turned  over  to  the  teacher  the  control 
of  the  school.  Later  on  they  voted  to  delegate  the  testing  of 
the  qualifications  of  the  teacher  and  the  visitation  of  the 
school  to  those  who  could  best  represent  their  interests  for 
them. 

Boards  for  school  control  in  our  cities  to-day,  as  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  town  or  district  meeting,  now  represent  the  peo- 
ple in  the  matter  of  schools,  and  through  such  boards  the 
people  now  exercise  control  over  the  education  provided  at 
public  expense  for  their  children.  The  school  board  members 
are  merely  citizens,  selected  as  their  representatives  by  the 
people  of  the  community.  As  individuals  they  are  still  citi- 
zens :  only  when  the  board  is  in  formal  session  do  they  have 
any  actual  authority. 

It  is  the  board,  acting  as  a  body,  which  in  the  name  of  the 
people  controls  the  schools,  and  not  the  individual  members 
who,  when  in  session,  compose  it.  Even  when  the  board  is 
in  formal  session,  the  individual  members  have  only  a  voice 
and  a  vote,  and  their  control  over  the  schools  is  through  the 
votes  whereby  rules,  regulations,  and  policies  are  adopted. 
To  have  authority  otherwise  the  authority  must  be  expressly 


110  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

delegated  to  a  member  by  the  board  as  a  body,  and  by  vote, 
and  his  authority  then  extends  only  so  far  as  specified  by 
such  vote  of  the  board.  Members,  to  be  sure,  often  attempt 
to  exercise  authority  at  other  times,  and  frequently  do  so, 
but  such  authority  is  usurped  authority  and  authority  for 
which  there  is  little  or  no  legal  right. 

Boards  continuous  and  changing.  All  boards  for  school 
control  are,  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  continuous  bodies.  They 
are  bodies  corporate,  have  a  seal,  hold  title  to  the  school 
property,  pass  the  title  to  their  successors  in  office,  may  sell 
and  legally  deed  property  not  needed  for  school  purposes, 
and,  in  case  a  majority  should  at  any  time  and  for  any  cause 
cease  to  exist,  the  functions  of  the  board  are  merely  sus- 
pended but  do  not  die. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  board  is  kaleidoscopic.  Both  the 
personnel  and  the  character  of  the  board  change  rapidly. 
Often  the  best  men  in  the  community  do  not  find  their  way 
to  membership  on  it.  Men  of  limited  education  and  inex- 
perienced in  school  affairs,  and  with  but  little  conception  as 
to  what  constitutes  good  administration  of  public  educa- 
tion, are  constantly  elected  by  the  people  to  membership 
on  the  board.  On  assuming  membership,  conceiving  that 
they  have  been  elected  to  manage  the  schools,  they  pro- 
ceed to  do  so  in  a  manner  which  accords  well  with  their  in- 
experience and  lack  of  technical  knowledge.  The  older  meni  ^ 
bers  of  the  board  and  the  superintendent  of  schools  have  ti» 
keep  constantly  in  mind  the  slow  education  of  the  newcomer. 
The  longer  the  term  of  office  and  the  more  gradual  the 
replacement,  the  less  the  school  administration  of  a  city 
is  disturbed  by  such  changes  in  the  representatives  of  the 
people. 

Types  of  school-board  members.  The  city  which  keeps 
an  able  school  board  continuously  in  office  is  indeed  fortu- 
nate. In  most  cities  such  boards  alternate  with  poor  boards; 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  111 

in  some  cities  such  boards  scarcely  exist  at  all.  In  most  cities 
the  board  is  a  combination  of  diverse  elements,  and  repre- 
sents, fairly  well,  the  general  average  of  intelligence  of  the 
electorate  and  the  average  conceptions  of  the  people  as  to 
the  administration  of  public  education.  A  city  school  board 
composed  of  a  machinist,  a  retired  gentleman,  a  grocer,  a 
shoe  clerk,  a  real-estate  agent,  a  druggist,  a  lumberyard 
foreman,  a  hotel-keeper,  an  old  and  busy  lawyer,  a  book- 
keeper, a  young  lawyer  without  much  business,  and  a 
banker,  might  be  considered  to  be  a  board  of  the  better 
type. 

All  of  these  men  are  upright  and  honest  citizens,  inter- 
ested in  schools  and  in  the  education  of  their  children,  and 
more  or  less  successful  in  their  different  lines  of  work.  The 
chief  trouble  with  them  is  not  their  honesty  or  their  general 
intelligence  or  their  willingness  to  serve,  but  rather  that  they 
know  so  little  about  what  constitutes  good  school  adminis- 
tration that  they  are  likely  to  think  that,  because  they  have 
children  in  the  schools,  they  know  all  about  how  the  schools 
should  be  conducted.  Should  they  think  so,  as  most  new 
members  on  boards  of  education  do,  they  are  almost  cer- 
tain to  attempt  what  they  are  not  competent  to  handle,  and 
the  result  is  both  disastrous  and  pathetic. 

If,  in  place  of  five  of  the  better  members  of  the  board 
described  above,  we  substitute  a  teamster,  a  blacksmith,  a 
saloon-keeper,  a  young  politician  with  little  or  no  visible 
means  of  support,  and  a  crank  with  an  educational  hobby,  as 
often  happens  as  a  result  of  city  elections  or  appointments 
by  mayors,  we  get  a  combination  which  is  likely  to  do  much 
to  destroy  the  efficiency  of  a  school  system  by  turning  it  into 
a  city  patronage  department,  and  by  attempting  to  perform 
almost  every  technical  and  professional  function  which  a 
board  should  leave  to  experts  to  perform.  The  superintend- 
ent resigns,  the  teachers  who  can  get  away  do  so,  and  the 


112  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

schools  slowly  deteriorate  under  such  administrative  con- 
ditions. 

The  committee  form  of  control.  The  most  common  means 
by  which  mismanagement  and  interference  with  the  tech- 
nical and  professional  functions  of  the  experts  of  the  school 
department  comes  is  through  the  attempt  of  such  boards  to 
manage  the  schools  by  means  of  a  large  number  of  standing 
committees.^  Committees  commonly  exist,  such  as  those  on 
courses  of  study,  textbooks,  instruction,  and  promotions  and 
grading,  which  simply  cannot  exercise  intelligently  any  of 
the  functions  usually  assigned  to  such  bodies.  The  work  at- 
tempted by  such  committees  involves  professional  knowledge 
and  judgment  which  no  city  board  of  education,  either  as  a 
body  or  through  a  committee,  ought  ever  to  try  to  assume. 

Taking  the  board  of  the  better  type  given  above,  let  us 
distribute  the  membership  among  the  different  standing 
committees  which  we  may  assume  such  a  board  to  have  pro- 
vided for  in  its  rules  and  regulations.  Giving  each  man  the 
chairmanship  of  one  committee,  which  is  a  very  common 
proceeding,  and  then  distributing  the  members  in  order  of 
number  to  complete  the  membership  of  each  committee,  we 
get  the  following  result: — 

Committees  Membership 

1.  Teachers  and  Instruction.  (1)  Machinist,  (2)  retired  gentleman, 

(3)  grocer. 

2.  Courses  of  Study.  (2)  Retired  gentleman,  (4)  shoe  clerk, 

(5)  real-estate  agent. 

3.  Textbooks  and  Apparatus.  (3)  Grocer,  (6)  druggist,   (7)  lumber- 

yard foreman. 

4.  School  Supplies.  (4)  Shoe     clerk,      (8)     hotel-keeper, 

(9)  busy  lawyer. 

5.  Buildings  and  Grounds.  (5)  Real-estate     agent,     (10)     book- 

keeper, (11)  young  lawyer. 

1  Bard,  in  his  study  of  112  school  districts,  found  976  standing  com- 
mittees, or  an  average  of  nearly  9  to  each  city.  Of  these,  ^55  appeared  only 
once,  and  54  only  twice  in  the  112  cities  studied. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  113 

Committees 


6.  Janitors  and  Sanitation.  (6)  Druggist,  (1)  machinist,  (2)  retired 

gentleman. 

7.  Rules  and  Grievances.  (7)  Lumberyard  foreman,  (3)  grocer, 

(4)  shoe  clerk. 

8.  Promotions  and  Graduation.       (8)  Hotel-keeper,  (5)  real-estate  agent, 

(6)  druggist. 

9.  Kindergartens.  (9)  Busy  lawyer,  (7)  lumberyard  fore- 

man, (8)  hotel-keeper. 

10.  Elementary  Schools.  (10)  Bookkeeper,     (9)     busy     lawyer, 

(11)  young  lawyer. 

11.  High  Schools.  (11)  Young     lawyer,     (1)     machinist, 

(10)  bookkeeper. 

12.  Presiding  Officer.*  (12)  Banker. 

*Ex  officio  a  member  of  all  committees. 

While  the  above  is,  of  course,  a  hypothetical  case,  it  would 
not  be  at  all  surprising  if  the  outline  represented  an  actual 
condition  in  some  city  in  the  United  States.  The  equivalent, 
at  least,  of  such  an  arrangement  exists  in  many  of  our 
cities. 

The  trouble  with  any  such  arrangement  of  committees 
and  distribution  of  Vork  hes  in  that  there  is  little  that  such 
committees  can  do  intelligently,  or  ought  ever  attempt  to  do, 
in  the  government  of  any  city  school  system.  They  must 
either  delegate  their  work  in  turn  to  the  superintendent  of 
schools  or  some  other  executive  officer,  or  else  continually 
interfere  with  the  proper  work  of  the  superintendent,  mak- 
ing blunder  after  blunder  as  they  work.  The  pity  of  the 
situation  is  that  too  often  neither  they  nor  the  people  they 
represent  know  that  they  are  blundering  and  mismanaging 
the  most  important  undertaking  of  the  community.  When 
the  superintendent  of  schools  objects  to  their  blundering 
and  mismanagement,  they  do  not  understand  him,  and  often 
consider  him  as  merely  greedy  for  power. 

Committee  control  applied  to  hospital  management.  The 
absurdity  of  such  committee  control  of  professional  and 
technical  matters  will  be  seen  more  easily  if  we  assume  that 


114 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


this  same  board  of  twelve  men  has  been  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple to  represent  them  in  the  management  of  a  municipal 
hospital,  and  that  they  then  divided  themselves  up  as  be- 
fore, for  purposes  of  control,  into  eleven  approximately  equiv- 
alent committees.  We  then  get  the  following  results: — 


Committees 

1.  Doctors  and  Nurses. 

2.  Medical  Treatment. 

3.  Drugs  and  Instruments. 

4.  Ward  and  Kitchen  Supplies. 

5.  Buildings  and  Grounds. 

6.  Nurses  and  Attendants. 

7.  Complaints. 

8.  Operative  Cases. 

9.  Maternity  Ward. 

10.  Children's  Ward. 

11.  Contagious  Diseases. 

12.  Presiding  Officer.* 


Membership 

(1)  Machinist,  (2)  retired  gentleman, 

(3)  grocer. 

(2)  Retired  gentleman,  (4)  shoe  clerk, 

(5)  real-estate  agent. 

(3)  Grocer,  (6)  druggist,   (7)  lumber- 

yard foreman. 

(4)  Shoe      clerk,      (8)     hotel-keeper, 

(9)  busy  lawyer. 

(5)  Real-estate     agent,     (10)     book- 

keeper, (11)  young  lawyer. 

(6)  Druggist,  (1)  machinist,  (2)  retired 

gentleman, 

(7)  Lumberyard  foreman,  (3)  grocer, 

(4)  shoe  clerk. 

(8)  Hotel-keeper,  (5)  real-estate  agent, 

(6)  druggist. 

(9)  Busy  lawyer,  (7)  lumberyard  fore- 

man, (8)  hotel-keeper. 

(10)  Bookkeeper,     (9)     busy    lawyer, 

(11)  young  lawyer. 

(11)  Young    lawyer,     (1)     machinist, 

(10)  bookkeeper. 

(12)  Banker. 


*Ex  officio  a  member  of  all  committees. 

Take  for  granted  now  that  these  eleven  committees  as- 
sume the  same  degree  of  control  over  the  hospital  that  such 
committees  do  over  the  schools,  and  the  same  degree  of 
authority,  individually  and  collectively,  over  the  superin- 
tendent, heads  of  departments,  and  nurses,  that  similar  com- 
mittees and  committee  members  frequently  do  over  the 
superintendent  of  schools,  the  principals,  and  the  teachers  in 
the  schools.  The  result  is  easily  imaginable,  yet  the  mis- 
management in  the  case  of  the  hospital  could  not  be  greater 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  115 

than  very  frequently  takes  place  to-day  in  the  management 
of  city  schools. 

The  chief  difference  lies  in  that,  in  the  case  of  mismanage- 
ment in  the  administration  of  a  hospital,  the  effect  is  soon 
visible  and  is  easily  brought  within  the  comprehension  of 
the  people.  In  the  case  of  mismanagement  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  a  city  school  system  the  effect  is  concealed,  —  the 
people,  as  yet,  having  no  standards  by  means  of  which  they 
can  understand  that  mismanagement  is  taking  place.  While 
a  good  superintendent  of  schools  makes  about  as  good  and 
as  thorough  preparation  for  his  work  as  does  a  physician  or 
a  surgeon  for  his,  and  is  about  as  .competent  in  his  profes- 
sional field  as  is  a  physician  or  surgeon  in  his,  the  pubhc  does 
not  understand  this,  and  can  hardly  appreciate  that  such 
can  be  the  case.  The  profession  of  medicine  is  an  old  one, 
and  there  has  been  time  to  evolve  popular  standards  as  to 
its  work;  the  superintendent  of  schools  is  a  recent  evolution, 
and  popular  standards  regarding  his  work  have  not  yet  been 
developed. 

Committee  service  time-consuming.  Turning  back  to  the 
list  of  educational  committees  given,  practically  every  func- 
tion coming  under  the  jurisdiction  of  committees,  1,  %  3, 
4,  8,  9,  10,  and  11  are  educational  functions,  and  should  go 
to  the  superintendent  of  instruction,  and  grievances  under  7 
should  go  to  the  same  place.  The  work  of  committees  5  and  6 
lies  more  within  the  province  of  a  school  board,  though  part 
of  each  is  also  clearly  the  work  of  the  superintendent  of 
schools.  It  is  in  the  attempt  to  handle  all  such  professional 
and  technical  matters  themselves  that  boards  of  education 
usually  make  their  most  serious  administrative  errors. 

Matters  coming  before  the  board  are  referred  to  these 
committees  for  consideration  and  report.  The  opinion  of 
the  superintendent  of  instruction  is  usually  sought,  but 
sometimes  he  is  entirely  ignored.  The  committees  meet  fre- 


116  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

quently,  and  the  board  meets  frequently  in  consequence.* 
The  members  are  earnest,  the  new  problems  are  interesting, 
to  them,  and  they  frequently  sacrifice  much  time  and  show 
a  deep  devotion  to  duty  in  their  efforts  to  render  service  to 
the  schools.  Ofttimes,  when  the  time  consumed  in  such  com- 
mittee work  and  board  meetings  is  considered,  one  is  led  to 
wonder  how  any  one  except  a  man  of  wealth  or  leisure,  or  a 
young  man  of  no  particular  business,  can  afford  to  accept 
membership  on  such  a  school  board. ^ 

Committee  action  illustrated.  A  few  examples,  all  actual 
cases,  which  have  come  to  the  writer's  attention,  will  illus- 
trate the  over-activity  of  committees. 

In  one  city  the  board  committee  on  course  of  study 
meets  with  the  principals  and  teachers,  and  formulates 
and  approves  even  the  smallest  details  of  its  administra- 
tion. The  superintendent  is  seldom  consulted,  and  natur- 
ally disclaims  any  responsibility  for  the  kind  of  instruction 
offered. 

In  another  city  the  board  meets  with  the  principals  in 
the  matter  of  changes  in  the  teaching  force,  sees  personally 
all  applicants  for  positions,  and  elects  and  discharges,  from 
vest-pocket  memoranda,  and  as  influenced  by  the  pressure 
of  interested  friends. 

In  another  city  the  committee  on  books  and  library  spent 

1  The  school  board  at  Portland,  Oregon  (see  Survey  Report,  chap,  n), 
illustrates  the  process  very  well.  The  board  of  five  was  divided  into  eight 
standing  committees,  with  two  members  and  the  president  on  each,  each 
member  being  on  four  of  the  eight  committees.  These  committees  met 
weekly,  and  sometimes  oftener,  and  the  board  as  a  whole,  in  addition  to 
the  seven  regular  fortnightly  meetings,  held  sixteen  special  meetings  during 
the  three  months  between  February  20  and  May  23,  for  which  tabulations 
were  made. 

2  The  twenty  difiFerent  types  of  business  considered,  given  in  the  Port- 
land Survey  Report  (chap,  ii),  further  illustrate  the  point.  Here  a  board, 
composed  of  good  men,  was  engaged  in  supervising  minute  details  in  the 
administration  of  the  schools,  while  the  paid  executive  officers  acted  largely 
as  clerks  to  transmit  requests  and  to  report  back  decisions. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOAEDS  117 

thousands  of  dollars  in  purchasing  an  adult's  library  for  the 
high  school,  which  was  of  httle  use  for  teaching  purposes, 
and  books  for  the  grades  which  were  not  at  all  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  pupils. 

In  another  city  the  supply  committee,  in  favoring  a  partic- 
ular local  dealer,  furnished  such  a  poor  quality  of  writing- 
paper  that  good  writing  exercises  or  composition  work  during 
the  ensuing  year  were  next  to  impossible. 

In  still  another  city  the  supply  committee  ordered  the 
supply  estimate  of  the  superintendent  for  the  year's  needs 
cut  fifty  per  cent,  with  the  result  that  teachers  and  classes 
had  but  most  hmited  supplies  for  their  work. 

In  another  city  the  committee  on  buildings  met  fre- 
quently, for  months,  with  a  local  architect,  in  evolving  a 
plan  for  a  new  grammar-school  building,  to  be  the  largest 
and  finest  in  the  city,  and,  after  the  plans  had  been  ap- 
proved and  the  foundations  were  in,  the  board  was  finally 
convinced  that  haK  of  the  rooms  were  poorly  lighted,  — 
four  of  them  so  poorly  as  to  be  unfit  for  use, —  and  stopped 
the  work  to  reconsider  the  matter. 

In  two  other  cities,  members  of  the  teachers,  instruction, 
or  course  of  study  committee  go  to  the  schools,  observe  the 
instruction,  and  criticize  the  work  of  the  teachers  and  the 
management  of  the  principals. 

In  city  S the  committee  on  printing  reported 

against  allowing  the  superintendent  of  schools  to  have  a 
certain  perfectly  harmless  form  of  letter-head  printed;  in 

city   B the   committee   on   supplies   recommended 

against  allowing  the  purchase  of  a  certain  brand  of  salad- 
dressing  desired  for  the  domestic-science  work,  on  the  ground 
that  other  brands  could  be  purchased  for  less  money.  The 
reports  in  both  cases  were  adopted  by  the  board. 

Hines  tells  of  a  case  where  the  blacksmith  at  the  head 
of  the  textbook  committee  determined  the  Latin  book  to  be 


118  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

used  in  the  high  school.^  The  writer  knows  of  a  case  where 
the  chairman  of  the  same  committee  stopped  the  use  of  a 
certain  United  States  history  in  the  high-school  classes,  be- 
cause he  did  not  think  it  fair  to  the  Northern  side,  he  being 
a  prominent  G.A.R.  man. 

A  confusion  in  functions.  All  of  these  cases  of  over-ac- 
tivity on  the  part  of  board  members  and  board  committees 
arise  from  a  confusion  as  to  what  the  members  were  elected 
to  do.  A  school  board  is  elected  primarily  as  a  board  of  school 
control,  to  determine  policies,  select  experts,  approve  new 
undertakings,  and  determine  expenditures,  and  the  members 
transform  it  into  a  board  of  supervision  for  the  detailed  over- 
sight of  the  work  of  the  schools.  This  no  board  of  laymen 
should  undertake  to  do. 

In  all  such  matters  as  the  outlining  or  changing  of  courses 
of  study,  the  selection  of  textbooks  and  library  books,  the 
character  or  the  competency  of  the  instruction,  the  selec- 
tion, assignment,  promotion,  and  dismissal  of  teachers  and 
janitors,  and  the  engineering  and  hygienic  problems  of 
schoolhouse  construction,  boards  and  their  committees 
should  not  attempt  independent  action.  Instead,  experts 
competent  to  deal  with  such  problems  should  be  employed, 
and  their  opinions  should  be  sought  and  followed.  In  case 
a  board  doubts  the  wisdom  of  an  opinion  it  should  either 
postpone  the  matter  for  further  consideration  with  the  ex- 
pert, secure  an  additional  opinion  from  an  outside  disin- 
terested expert,  or  employ  a  new  expert  whose  judgment 
they  are  willing  to  follow.  If  the  expert  knows  his  business  the 
board  is  almost  certain  to  act  unwisely  if  it  acts  in  opposi 
tion  to  his  judgment. ^ 

1  See  L,  R.  Hines,  "The  Ideal  School  Board  from  the  Superintendent's 
Point  of  View";  in  Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association,  1911, 
p.  1001. 

2  This  calls  for  an  exercise  of  self-restraint  which  many  strong  men  find 
it  hard  to  carry  out,  as  the  desire  to  control  is  pronounced  in  such  men. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  119 

The  real  work  of  the  board.  This  does  not  mean  that  a 
board  of  education  will  have  nothing  left  to  do,  though  its 
labors  will  naturally  be  materially  reduced.  Freed  from  the 
details  of  school  organization  and  administration,  and  fron: 
the  pulls  and  influences  which  surround  detailed  work  on 
many  of  the  larger  features  of  the  administrative  problem^ 
the  board  is  now  free  to  devote  its  energies  to  the  problems 
of  its  work  as  a  board  for  school  control.  These  relate  to  the 
selection,  from  time  to  time,  of  its  expert  advisers,  a  prob- 
lem upon  which  far  more  time  and  care  should  be  spent  than 
is  usually  given  to  it;  the  selection  of  school  sites,  always  with 
the  larger  future  needs  of  the  community  in  mind;  the  de- 
termination of  the  annual  budget  and  tax  levy;  the  consider- 
ation of  recommendations  for  the  expansion  of  the  school 
system;  the  prevention  of  legislation  by  the  city  or  by  the 
legislature  which  is  against  the  best  interests  of  the  schools 
under  their  control;  and  the  proper  presentation,  to  the  peo- 
ple whom  they  represent,  of  the  work  and  needs  of  the  schools 
and  the  policies  of  the  school  department.  It  is  these  larger 
problems  of  control  which  are  most  important,  but  which 
are  almost  certain  to  be  neglected  when  a  school  board 
undertakes  to  transform  itself  into  a  board  of  supervision 
and  to  handle  the  details  of  school  administration. 

Legislative  and  executive  functions.  In  other  words, 
boards  of  education  should  act  as  legislative,  and  not  as 
executive  bodies,  and  a  clear  distinction  ^  should  be  drawn 

*  "The  duties  of  the  board  of  education  as  fixed  by  law  involve  the  es- 
tablishment and  maintenance  of  a  public  school  system.  This  imphes 
that  the  board,  acting  for  the  people,  shall  prescribe  the  general  educational 
policy  of  the  city,  determining,  on  the  one  hand,  the  kind  and  number  of 
buildings  to  be  erected  for  school  purposes,  and  on  the  other  what  shall  be 
taught  in  the  schools,  and  spending  economically  and  fairly  the  school  funds 
for  these  purposes.  The  administration  in  detail  of  the  schools,  either  on  the 
educational  or  on  the  business  side,  cannot  be  carried  on  by  the  board  act- 
ing as  a  whole,  and  should  not  be  carried  on  by  a  system  of  committee 
management."  Report  of  the  Educational  Commission  of  Chicago,  p.  14. 


120  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

between  what  are  legislative  and  what  are  executive  func- 
tions. The  legislative  functions  belong,  by  right,  to  the 
board,  and  the  legislation  should  be  enacted,  after  discus- 
sion, by  means  of  formal  and  recorded  votes.  The  board's 
work,  as  the  representative  of  the  people,  is  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  proposals  and  to  determine  the  general  policy  of  the 
school  system. 

Once  a  policy  has  been  decided  upon,  however,  its  execu- 
tion should  rest  with  the  executive  officer  or  officers  em- 
ployed by  the  board,  the  chief  of  whom  will  naturally  be  the 
superintendent  of  schools.  If  the  board  desires  information 
on  any  question,  it  should  direct  its  executive  officer  or 
officers  to  furnish  it.  On  the  recommendations  submitted 
the  board  should  sit  in  judgment,  and,  until  convinced  of 
the  wisdom  of  the  recommendations,  the  board  should  hold 
them  in  abeyance.  In  all  matters  which  are  strictly  profes- 
sional, and  which  relate  to  the  details  of  administration,  the 
board  should  refuse  to  act  in  any  way  until  the  matter  has 
first  been  brought  before  the  proper  executive  officer,  and 
his  decision  should  not  be  reversed  unless  the  board  is  thor- 
oughly convinced  that  he  is  wrong.  ^  Even  then,  in  many 
cases,  the  board  will  be  wise  not  to  act  hastily. 

In  certain  strictly  professional  matters,  such  as  courses 
of  study,  textbooks,  and  instruction,  boards  should  be  de- 
prived of  the  right  to  act,  except  upon  his  recommendation. 
The  wisdom  of  such  a  separation  of  functions  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  a  city  school  system  has  been  shown  repeat- 

1  "Its  functions  are  not  executive,  but  legislative,  deliberative,  advi- 
sory, and  report  hearing.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  being  a  lay  body,  it 
cannot  itself  run  the  schools.  Instead,  it  is  there  to  represent  the  people  by 
performing  for  them  certain  delegated  functions  of  selecting  experts  to  run 
the  schools,  advising  with  them  as  to  how  the  people  would  have  public 
education  conducted,  examining  into  the  sufficiency  of  their  plans,  pass- 
ing upon  then-  reports  of  results,  and  maintaining  a  general  oversight  over 
all  that  they  do;  upholding  and  protecting  them  in  their  work  as  long  as  it 
is  satisfactory,  and  putting  others  in  their  places  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  be 
BO."  E.  C.  Moore,  How  New  York  City  Administers  its  Schools,  p.  89. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOAEDS  121 

edly  in  our  city  schools.  It  is  when  boards  or  board  com- 
mittees, anxious  to  direct  and  manage  as  well  as  to  govern, 
seize  executive  functions  and  begin  to  displace  the  chosen 
executive  officers  in  the  administration  of  the  school  system, 
that  trouble  usually  begins  to  develop. 

In  the  exercise  of  its  legislative  functions  the  board  will 
need  few,  if  any,  standing  committees.  If  the  board  is  small, 
say  five  or  seven,  action  can  be  taken  better  as  a  whole,  all 
committees  being  purely  temporary.  In  any  case,  three  com- 
mittees will  be  sufficient  for  even  a  large  board,  namely,  a 
committee  on  educational  affairs,  a  committee  on  business 
affairs,  and  a  committee  on  buildings  and  finance.  The  first 
would  consider  the  recommendations  of  the  superintendent 
of  instruction  in  all  educational  matters;  the  second  would, 
in  a  broad  way,  consider  the  business  matters  of  the  school 
department;  while  the  third  would  deal  with  the  larger  mat- 
ters of  finance  for  yearly  maintenance,  sites,  and  buildings. 
Many  students  of  educational  administration  feel  that 
school  board  standing  committees  serve  little  or  no  useful 
purpose,  and  should  be  prohibited  by  law. 

Selection  of  executive  officers.  Such  a  separation  of  leg- 
islative and  executive  functions  means  the  selection  of  a 
properly  trained  expert,  or  experts,  and  then  giving  to  such 
men  both  responsibility  and  power.  The  board  of  educa- 
tion then  becomes  what  it  should  be,  —  a  real  board  for 
school  control.  The  selection  of  such  experts  is  one  of  the 
most  important  functions  any  board  is  called  upon  to  exer- 
cise, and  hasty  or  careless  action  here  is  likely  to  interfere 
seriously  with  the  efficiency  of  the  schools  for  years  to  come. 

The  first  and  most  important  of  these  officials,  and  in 
many  cities  the  only  one  to  be  chosen,  is  the  superintendent 
of  schools.  It  is  he  who  gives  tone  and  character  to  the 
entire  school  system.  To  select  local  men  because  they  are 
local  men,  to  promote  the  principal  of  the  high  school  be- 


122  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

cause  he  is  considered  next  in  line,  to  consider  only  those  who 
come  and  apply  for  the  place,  or  to  consider,  for  a  moment, 
any  such  purely  extraneous  reasons  as  locality,  politics, 
religion,  fraternal-order  membership,  club  or  social  influence, 
or  mere  good  nature  and  personal  acceptability,  is  a  sure 
way  to  head  toward  a  serious  mistake.  To  allow  city  politics 
or  political  trades  to  determine  the  choice  is  also  a  sure  way 
to  engraft  an  incompetent  and  a  politician  on  the  system, — 
one  whom  the  board  will  find  it  hard  to  get  rid  of,  and  one 
whom  they  will  sooner  or  later  be  forced  to  ignore.  The  best 
men  do  not  seek  office  by  these  means.  Still  more,  the  men 
most  worth  having  usually  do  not  seek  the  office  at  all.  They 
do  not  have  to.  While  not  always  true,  in  a  general  way  it 
might  be  said  that  a  man's  ability  properly  to  fill  the  posi- 
tion of  superintendent  of  schools  is  about  inversely  propor- 
tional to  the  effort  he  makes  to  secure  the  position. 

Bases  for  selection.  Instead,  the  board  should  regard  the 
selection  of  its  superintendent  of  schools  as  the  most  im- 
portant duty  it  ever  has  to  perform.  Instead  of  considering 
only  those  who  apply,  the  board  itseK  should  make  an  active 
and  an  intelligent  search  for  the  best  man  or  woman  avail- 
able for  the  money  which  the  city  can  afford  to  pay.  This, 
too,  is  no  place  to  economize.  The  salary  should  be  made 
large,  so  as  to  tempt  the  best  men,^  and  the  tenure  should 
be  long  enough  also  to  offer  attractions. ^ 

1  T  le  difference  between  a  salary  of  $3000  and  $4000  for  a  city  of  20,000 
inhabitants,  is  a  per-capita  difference  of  only  three  and  a  third  cents  per 
year,  but  to  the  superintendent,  on  an  estimated  cost  of  $2500  a  year  for 
living,  $4000  is  three  times  as  large  a  salary  as  $3000,  and  hence  will  draw 
a  very  much  better  grade  of  man.  It  is  a  fundamental  mistake  for  a  board 
to  economize  or  haggle  here  when  good  men  are  under  consideration.  Sim- 
ilarly, for  a  city  of  250,000  inhabitants,  a  salary  of  $7500  costs  but  one  cent 
more  per  inhabitant  per  year  than  does  a  salary  of  $5000,  when  in  quality 

>f  service  it  should  purchase  at  least  twice  as  efficient  a  superintendent. 

2  The  usual  one-year  tenure  is  most  undesirable,  and  is  unattractive  to 
ihe  best  men.  It  does  not  give  a  man  a  proper  chance  to  work  out  an  educa- 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  123 

The  authority  to  be  assured  the  new  superintendent,  too, 
should  be  commensiu-ate  with  the  importance  of  the  service 
the  board  expects  him  to  render  to  the  city.  The  things 
which  should  count  with  the  board  are  his  general  educa- 
tion, his  specific  training  for  the  work  of  city  school  super- 
vision, his  past  administrative  experience,  what  men  prom- 
inently engaged  in  educational  work  have  to  say  w^hen  asked 
confidentially  for  an  opinion,^  and  his  personality,  force, 
and  general  grasp  of  the  problem  as  shown  in  a  personal 
interview.  What  the  board  should  seek  is  a  man  of  strength, 
courage,  personal  force,  general  knowledge,  and  professional 
skill,  —  one  who  can  look  them  in  the  eye  with  a  confi- 
dence born  of  being  the  master  of  his  calling. 

If  other  executive  officers  are  to  be  selected,  such  as  a 
school  clerk,  a  business  manager,  a  school  architect  or  en- 
gineer, a  superintendent  of  attendance  or  of  health,  similar 
care  should  be  exercised  in  making  each  selection.  After  the 
selection  has  been  made  the  board  should  turn  the  executive 
functions  over  to  such  executive  officers,  and  then  expect 
them  to  look  after  their  part  in  the  administrative  organiza- 
tion in  a  wise  and  intelligent  manner.  If  they  cannot  or  will 
not  do  so, —  that  is,  if  the  board  has  made  a  mistake  in  their 
selection, —  a  change  in  executive  head  should  be  made  at 
the  first  opportunity. 

T3rpes  of  board  members.  To  render  such  intelhgent  serv- 
ice to  the  school  system  of  a  city  as  has  been  indicated 
requires  the  selection  of  a  peculiar  type  of  citizen  for  school- 

tional  policy,  and  is  too  often  used  by  boards  to  keep  a  superintendent  in 
proper  subjection. 

1  General  letters  of  recommendation  should  be  practically  discarded 
here.  What  is  wanted  is  confidential  letters  from  those  whose  educational 
opinion  is  worth  while,  and  also  from  former  employing  boards,  written 
directly  and  in  reply  to  specific  questions  as  to  the  ability  of  the  person 
under  consideration  to  handle  a  certain  specified  problem  or  situation.  A 
personal  interview  should  also  be  sought,  and  if  the  distance  to  be  traveled 
is  far,  it  should  be  at  the  expense  of  the  school  district. 


124  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

board  member.  In  many  respects  it  calls  for  a  higher  and  a 
more  intelligent  type  of  community  service  than  is  called 
for  in  any  other  branch  of  municipal  work.  Remembering 
that  it  is  the  function  of  a  school  board  to  select  experts  for 
the  executive  work,  and  to  govern  by  deciding  upon  the 
larger  matters  of  policy,  expansion,  and  expenditure,  and 
not  to  administer,  in  any  detail,  the  school  system  under 
their  control,  we  can  deduce  the  type  of  man  most  likely 
to  prove  useful  as  a  member  of  a  city  board  for  school 
control. 

Men  who  are  successful  in  the  handling  of  large  business 
undertakings  —  manufacturers,  merchants,  bankers,  con- 
tractors, and  professional  men  of  large  practice  —  would 
perhaps  come  first.  Such  men  are  accustomed  to  handling 
business  rapidly;  are  usually  wide  awake,  sane,  and  pro- 
gressive; are  not  afraid  to  spend  money  intelligently;  are  in 
the  habit  of  depending  upon  experts  for  advice,  and  for  the 
execution  of  administrative  details;  and  have  the  tact  and 
perseverance  necessary  to  get  the  most  efficient  service  out 
of  everybody  from  superintendent  down.  Such  men,  too, 
think  for  themselves,  can  resist  pressure,  and  can  explain  the 
reasons  for  their  actions.  College  graduates  who  are  suc- 
cessful in  their  business  or  professional  affairs,  whatever  may 
be  their  profession  or  occupation,  also  usually  make  good 
board  members,  provided  their  education  has  been  liberal 
enough  to  enable  them  to  understand  properly  the  cultural 
side  of  public  education.^ 

^  Chancellor,  in  Our  Schools;   Their  Administration  and   Supervision 
(p.  11),  thus  describes  an  ideal  school-board  member:  — 
"1.  Age  from  thirty  to  sixty -five  years. 

2.  Education,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  high-school  graduation. 

3.  Experience  in  the  affairs  of  property,  or  of  a  business. 

4.  The  confidence  in  himself  and  the  reputation  for  good  judgment  that 
comes  with  success  in  one's  personal  affairs." 

Hines  (see  chapter  references)  also  gives  an  excellent  outline  of  what 
constitutes  a  good  school-board  member. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  125 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Hst  of  those  who  usually  do  not 
make  good  school-board  members  is  much  larger.  Inex- 
perienced young  men,  unsuccessful  men,  old  men  who  have 
retired  from  business,  politicians,  saloon-keepers,  unedu- 
cated or  relatively  ignorant  men,  men  in  minor  business 
positions,  and  women,  ^  are  usually  considered  as  unde- 
sirable for  board  membership. ^  All  such  persons  tend  to 
deal  too  much  with  details,  to  miss  the  importance  of  large 
points  of  view,  and  tend  to  assume  executive  authority  when 
and  where  they  should  not.  Perhaps  still  more  objection- 
able than  any  of  these  are  people  of  any  class  or  either  sex 
who  desire  to  ride  an  educational  hobby,  or  those  who  wish 
to  get  on  the  school  board  to  revolutionize  things.  The 
crank,  the  hobby-rider,  or  the  extremist  should  never  be  put 
on  boards  of  education.  What  is  wanted  is  a  sane,  an  evenly 
balanced,  and  an  all-around  administration  of  the  schools, 
leaving  the  details  of  administration  to  those  who  can  handle 
them  best. 

Results  of  faithful  service.  The  service  that  a  broad- 
minded  and  progressive  school  board,  free  from  political, 

1  "The  thought  that  women  would  make  better  board  members  than 
men  has  its  source  largely  in  the  erroneous  notion  that  the  board  mem- 
ber's business  is  to  deal  directly  with  schoolroom  problems,  have  confer- 
ences with  the  teachers  and  pupils,  and  do  many  things  a  woman  can  do  as 
well  as  a  man.  The  board  member,  according  to  such  ideas,  is  actually  to 
supervise  the  work  of  the  schools.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the 
affairs  of  the  school  board  are  largely  business  matters.  The  fixing  of  tax 
rates,  the  distribution  of  funds,  the  erection  of  buildings,  the  providing  of 
repairs  to  buildings,  listening  to  complaints  of  citizens,  buying  supphes,  hir- 
ing janitors,  etc.,  constitute  the  greatest  part  of  the  school  board's  business. 
The  average  refined,  sensitive  woman  is  not  fitted  in  any  way  to  deal  with 
such  things.  As  a  board  member  she  is  likely  to  tire  soon  of  the  only  work 
she  can  do  without  interfering  with  the  actual  working  of  the  schools  wdth 
which  she  is  connected."   (Hines  [see  chapter  references],  p.  998.) 

^  Chancellor,  in  Our  Schools;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision  (pp. 
12-16  and  61-67),  gives  a  more  detailed  explanation  why  these  various 
classes  usually  make  good  or  bad  school-board  members.  Hines  also  should 
be  read  on  this  point. 


126  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

denominational,  and  fraternal  influences;  one  that  works 
with  the  higher  welfare  of  the  schools  under  its  control  con- 
stantly in  mind;  and  one  that  extends  to  its  executive  offi- 
cers the  confidence  and  intelligent  sympathy  which  brings 
out  the  best  in  each  of  them,  so  that  all  connected  with  the 
schools  feel  assured  of  their  wisdom  and  fairness;  —  such  a 
community  service  is  one  the  importance  of  which  is  hard 
to  overestimate.  To  few  men  in  any  community  comes  the 
opportunity  for  finer  or  more  enduring  service.  To  feel  that 
one  has  by  his  labors  contributed  to  conditions  which  have 
resulted  in  a  better  moral  tone  in  the  community  and  a 
quickened  intellectual  life  for  all,  is  a  personal  satisfaction 
which  is  more  attractive  than  money  to  the  type  of  men  most 
likely  to  make  good  school-board  members. 

QUESTIONS   FOR   DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  is  the  school  administration  in  a  city  less  disturbed  by  changes  in 
the  personnel  of  the  school  board  when  the  term  is  long  and  the  replace- 
ment gradual  than  when  the  opposite  is  true? 

2.  Why  is  it  natural  for  a  new  school-board  member  to  feel  that  he  has 
been  elected  to  manage  the  schools? 

3.  Why  does  the  public  have  trouble  in  appreciating  that  a  good  school 
superintendent  is  as  skillful  and  technically  as  well  trained  as  a  physi- 
cian or  a  surgeon? 

4.  Why,  when  a  superintendent  of  schools  objects  to  board  mismanage- 
ment and  asks  for  power  commensurate  with  the  responsibility  he  feels 
for  proper  administration,  is  he  said  to  be  "hungry  for  power,"  or 
"desirous  to  rule,"  whereas  similar  demands  from  a  doctor  in  charge  of 
a  hospital  or  a  superintendent  in  charge  of  a  factory  would  be  sustained 
by  public  opinion? 

5.  Why,  if  a  nurse  is  unskillful  and  as  a  result  patients  die,  does  she  re- 
ceive little  sympathy  when  discharged,  whereas  an  unsuccessful  teacher, 
under  whom  children  die  intellectually,  frequently  gets  much  public 
sympathy,  and  can  often  put  the  superintendent  on  trial  if  he  attempts 
to  secure  her  dismissal? 

6.  Explain  what  you  understand  by  a  separation  of  legislative  and  exec- 
utive functions.  Does  a  state  legislature  assume  executive  functions? 
Does  a  city  council?  Does  a  board  of  directors  for  a  bank? 

7.  Why  have  school  boards  assumed  executive  functions  more  than  other 
legislative  bodies? 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  127 

8.  Is  the  existence  of  a  number  of  standing  committees  a  constant  temp- 
tation to  a  board  to  exercise  executive  functions? 

9.  What  advantages  do  you  see  would  accrue  to  a  board  of  education  if  it 
referred  all  matters  involving  professional  functions  to  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  and  refused  to  act  on  such  except  on  his  recom- 
mendation? 

10.  Suppose  that  the  superintendent  of  schools  cannot  or  will  not  exercise 
executive  functions,  has  little  or  no  educational  policy,  and  a  weak  way 
of  dealing  with  administrative  questions  and  problems;  should  the 
board  or  its  committees  assume  his  functions  and  manage  the  schools? 

11.  Should  a  board  ever  attempt  to  plan  a  school  building? 

12.  Have  you  ever  known  any  boards  which  divested  themselves  of  exec- 
utive functions,  and  looked  after  the  larger  problems  of  their  work? 
What  was  the  general  result  on  the  schools? 

13.  Have  you  known  of  cases  where  boards  were  so  busy  with  the  details 
of  administration  that  they  allowed  legislation  inimical  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  schools  to  go  through  the  legislature  or  the  council?  What 
was  the  nature  of  such  legislation? 

14.  Is  a  board  justified:  — 

(a)  In  regulating  the  purchase  of  salad-dressing  for  the  schools? 
(6)  In  dictating  the  kind  of  paper  or  pencils  which  must  be  bought? 

(c)  In  regulating  the  superintendent's  stationery? 

(d)  In  granting  an  interview  as  a  body  to  a  man  who  applies  for  a 
position  as  a  school  principal? 

(e)  In  receiving  a  committee  from  a  body  of  teachers  who  wish  to 
recommend  their  principal  for  a  vacant  supervisor's  position? 

(J)  In  requiring  a  high-school  principal  to  apply  to  them  for  per- 
mission to  have  a  distinguished  visitor  speak  to  the  high-school 
students? 
(g)  In  ordering  the  purchase  for  the  schools  of  books  or  apparatus 
specified  by  them? 
If  so,  under  what  conditions  or  circumstances? 

15.  W^hat  is  the  danger  of  a  man  with  an  educational  hobby  on  a  school 
board?  What  misconception  are  the  people  under  in  selecting  such  a 
person? 

16.  Is  a  board  of  education  justified,  as  is  not  infrequently  done,  in  taking 
the  ground  that  they  will  not  consider  an  applicant  for  some  important 
position  because  he  has  not  filed  a  formal  application? 

17.  Some  superintendents  contend  that  it  is  just  as  well  that  all  legal 
powers  continue  to  rest  with  boards  of  education,  as  then  each 
superintendent  secures  such  powers  and  authority  as  he  is  able  to 
use.  What  do  you  think  of  this  argument  ? 

18.  Enumerate  some  of  the  advantages  which  would  accrue  to  board 
members  if  they  all  declined  to  deal  with  matters  which  were  pri- 
marily executive,  leaving  all  such  to  its  executive  officers,  referring  all 
persons  to  them,  and  taking  action  only  on  their  recommendations. 


128  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  What  powers  are  guaranteed,  by  general  law,  to  city  superintendents 
of  schools  in  your  State?  In  haK  a  dozen  other  selected  States? 

2.  Examine  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  board  of  education  in  half  a 
dozen  selected  cities  to  see  in  how  far  they  conform  to  the  principles 
laid  down  in  this  chapter. 

3.  To  what  extent  does  committee  control  exist  in  the  city  school  systems 
of  yoiu"  State,  what  committees  are  provided  for,  and  how  large  are 
their  powers? 

4.  Draw  up  so  much  of  a  set  of  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government 
of  a  board  of  education  as  has  to  do  with  the  relations  which  should 
exist  between  it  and  its  chief  executive  officer  in  matters  of  educational 
policy  and  general  administrative  control  of  the  schools;  the  names  and 
work  of  board  committees;  and  provide  for  a  proper  separation  of  leg- 
islative and  executive  functions. 

5.  Draw  up  a  plan  of  procedure  to  be  followed  in  the  selection  of  a 
new  superintendent  of  schools. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Butte,  Montana.   Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.   163  pp.    1914. 
Published  by  the  School  Board.   (Sale  price,  25  cents.) 

Chapter  VII,  on  the  administration  of  the  schools,  deals  with  the  proper  work  of 
the  board  as  a  board  of  control. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision.  434 
pp.    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1904. 
Chapter  11  is  very  good  on  the  board  and  its  work.  Gives  many  good  illustrations. 
Chicago,  Illinois.   Report  of  the  Educational  Commission  of.   248  pp.  Chi- 
cago, 1899.  Reprinted  by  the  University  of  Chicago  Press. 
Article  I  good  on  the  organization  and  work  of  a  board  of  education. 

Draper,  A.  S.    "The  Crucial  Test  of  the  Public  Schools";  in  American 
Education,  pp.  77-86.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1909,  383  pp. 

A  very  good  article  on  the  need  of  concentrating  power  in  the  hands  of  the  school 
board's  executive  officers. 
Eliot,  Charles  W.    "A  Good  Urban  School  Organization";  in  Report  of 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education.,  1903,  vol.  ii,  pp.  1356-62. 

Describes  the  St.  Louis  system,  and  the  way  the  board  and  its  executive  officers 
handle  the  educational  business.  A  good  article. 
Eliot,  E.  C.   "School  Administration;  the  St.  Louis  Method";  in  Educa- 
tional Review,  vol.  26,  pp.  464-75.   (December,  1903.) 

Describes  how  the  new  St.  Louis  board  transacts  the  business  through  its  executive 
officers. 
Ellis,  D.  A.  "A  Decade  of  School  Administration  in  Boston";  in  Proceed- 
ings of  National  Ediwation  Association,  1910,  pp.  987-92. 

Describes  the  fundamental  reorganizations  effected  by  the  new  and  smaller  school 
board. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SCHOOL  BOARDS  129 

Greenwood,  J.  M.   "The  Superintendent  and  the  Board  of  Education"; 

in  Educational  Review,  vol.  18,  pp.  363-77.    (November,  1899.) 

An  excellent  article  on  the  work  and  relationships  which  should  exist  between  a 
superintendent  of  schools  and  a  board  of  education  in  our  smaller  cities. 

Hines,  L.  N.   "The  Ideal  School  Board  from  the  Superintendent's  Point 
of  View";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1911,  pp. 
994-1002. 
An  excellent  statement. 
Hunsicker,  B.  F.  "Retrospective  and  Prospective  School  Administration"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1904,  pp.  897-901. 

General  on  educational  progress,  chiefly  with  reference  to  work  and  attitudes  o! 
boards  of  education. 

Mark,  C .  W.    "  The  Function  of  School  Boards  " ;  in  Proceedings  of  National 

Education  Association,  1909,  pp.  839-42. 
The  board  simply  as  a  board  of  control  for  the  schools. 
Moore,  E.  C.  How  New  York  City  Administers  its  Schools.  321  pp.  Part  of 

the  New  York  City  School  Survey  Report  of  1911-12.    Reprinted  by 

World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1913. 

A  detailed  consideration  of  the  work  of  the  board  for  New  York  City.  Points  out 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  efficient  administration.  The  principles  stated  are  appli- 
cable to  other  large  cities.  A  valuable  volume. 

Portland,  Oregon.   Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System  (1913). 
418  pp.    Reprinted  by  the  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 
Chapter  II  describes  the  work  done  by  the  board,  and  lays  down  fimdamental 
principles  of  action.  A  good  example  of  board  over-activity. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.    Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System, 
250  pp.    1915.    Published  by  the  School  Board. 

Chapter  II  deals  with  the  work  of  the  board,  and  indicates  a  desirable  administra- 
tive efficiency. 

Soldan,  F.  L.  "Charter  Provisions  for  Reorganization  of  School  Systems"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1905,  pp.  231-35. 
Describes  certain  administrative  details  of  the  St.  Louis  system. 
Sutton,  W.  S.  "The  School  Board  as  a  Factor  in  Educational  Efficiency"^ 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  49,  pp.  258-65.    (March,  1915.) 
A  good  general  article  on  what  constitutes  a  board  of  education's  proper  functions. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS 

A  new  profession.  As  we  look  back  over  the  three  quar- 
ters of  a  century  during  which  the  office  of  superintendent  of 
city  schools  has  been  in  existence,  a  few  names  stand  out 
with  particular  prominence  as  men  who  have  laid  —  often 
against  tremendous  obstacles,  often  in  conflict  and  contest 
to  the  end  of  their  careers,  and  often  by  the  sacrifice  of  much 
that  men  hold  dear  —  the  foundation  principles  of  the  new 
work  to  which  they  gave  the  best  years  of  their  lives.  Doing 
a  pioneer  work,  and  often  misunderstood  and  unappreciated 
by  those  with  whom  they  labored,  these  men  patiently 
blazed  a  trail  for  others  to  follow.  As  a  recent  writer  has 
put  it,^  "  each  traveled  the  trail  at  his  own  gait,  with  rations 
and  blanket  only,  and  never  knowing,  though  caring  much, 
where  each  year's  tramping  would  end."  Out  of  this  three 
quarters  of  a  century  of  trial,  conflict,  discussion,  and  ex- 
perimentation, a  profession  of  school  supervision  is  at  last 
being  evolved. 

School  supervision  represents  a  new  profession,  and  one 
which  in  time  will  play  a  very  important  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  American  Hfe.  In  pecuniar^'',  social,  professional, 
and  personal  rewards  it  ranks  with  the  other  learned  pro- 
fessions, while  the  call  for  city  school  superintendents  of  the 
right  type  is  to-day  greater  than  the  call  for  lawyers,  doctors, 
or  ministers.  The  opportunities  offered  in  this  new  pro- 
fession to  men  of  strong  character,  broad  sympathies,  high 

1  A.  Gove,  "The  Trail  of  the  City  Superintendent,"  in  Proc.  N.  E.  A, 
1900,  p.  215. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  131 

purposes,  fine  culture,  courage,  exact  training,  and  execu- 
tive skill,  and  who  are  willing  to  take  the  time  and  spend  the 
energy  necessary  to  prepare  themselves  for  large  service, 
are  to-day  not  excelled  in  any  of  the  professions,  learned  or 
otherwise.  No  profession  offers  such  large  personal  re- 
wards, for  the  opportunity  of  hving  one's  life  in  moulding 
other  lives,  and  in  helping  to  improve  materially  the  intel- 
lectual tone  and  moral  character  of  a  community,  offers  a 
personal  reward  that  makes  a  peculiarly  strong  appeal  to 
certain  fine  types  of  men  and  women. 

Despite  inadequate  rewards  in  the  past,  this  new  profes- 
sion has  for  long  attracted  to  it  many  of  the  best  minds  of 
the  nation,  men  fully  informed  as  to  what  the  rising  gener- 
ation may  become  and  dedicated  to  the  service  of  trying  to 
realize  possibilities,  —  often  under  discouraging  conditions. 
Within  recent  years  there  has  been  a  much  larger  reahza- 
tion,  on  the  part  of  the  public,  of  the  importance  of  the  office 
of  School  superintendent,  and  in  many  cities  to-day  the  head 
of  the  school  system  is  the  best  paid  official  in  the  pay  of 
the  community.  To  attract  the  best  minds  to  the  educa- 
tional service,  though,  there  should  be  offered  here  a  chance 
to  attain  some  of  the  distinguishing  marks  of  success  which 
mark  other  professional  callings. 

Importance  of  this  official.  Potentially,  at  least,  the  most 
important  officer  in  the  employ  of  the  people  of  any  mu- 
nicipality to-day  is  the  person  who  directs  the  organization 
and  administration  of  its  school  system,  and  who  supervises 
the  instruction  given  therein.  Actually,  the  condition  fre- 
quently is  otherwise,  but  where  the  superintendent  of  schools 
is  of  the  type  he  should  be  he^  renders  a  service  the  impor- 
tance of  which,  in  terms  of  character  and  future  citizenship^ 

*  Here,  as  elsewhere  throughout  this  book,  the  masculine  form  is  used, 
anc  for  the  simple  reason  that  nearly  all  of  our  city  superintendents  are 
men.  What  is  said,  however,  is  equally  applicable  to  women. 


132  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

is  not  approached  by  that  of  any  other  official  in  the  employ 
of  a  municipality.  In  popular  estimation  the  mayor,  the 
president  of  the  city  council,  the  chief  of  police,  or  the  head 
of  the  fire  department  may  occupy  more  important  posi- 
tions, but  the  far-reaching  character  of  the  services  of  a 
capable  and  energetic  superintendent  of  schools  transcends 
in  importance  any  of  these. 

What  the  schools  are  in  organization,  administration,  in- 
struction, spirit,  and  purpose,  and  the  position  which  they 
occupy  in  the  eyes  of  the  community,  they  are  largely  as  the 
result  of  the  actions,  labors,  manliness,  courage,  clear  vision, 
and  common  sense  of  the  superintendent  of  schools.  About 
him  and  his  work  the  schools  revolve,  and  it  is  largely  he  who 
makes  or  mars  the  system.  What  he  is,  the  schools,  under 
proper  administrative  conditions,  become;  what  he  is  not, 
they  often  plainly  show. 

Large  duties  of  the  olSce.  His  is  the  central  office  in  the 
school  system,  up  to  which  and  down  from  which  authority, 
direction,  and  inspiration  flow.  He  is  the  organizer  and 
director  of  the  work  of  the  schools  in  all  of  their  different 
phases,  and  the  representative  of  the  schools  and  all  for 
which  the  schools  stand  before  the  people  of  the  community. 
He  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  school  board,  and  also  its 
eyes,  and  ears,  and  brains.  He  is  the  supervisor  of  the  in- 
struction in  the  schools,  and  also  the  leader,  adviser,  inspirer, 
and  friend  of  the  teachers,  and  between  them  and  the  board 
of  education  he  must,  at  times,  interpose  as  an  arbiter. 
Amid  all  of  his  various  duties,  however,  the  interests  of  the 
children  in  the  schools  must  be  his  chief  care,  and  the  larger 
educational  interests  of  the  community  as  a  whole  he  must 
constantly  keep  in  mind. 

The  position  of  superintendent  of  schools  in  a  modern  city, 
if  properly  filled,  is  a  full  man's  job,  and  calls  for  the  best 
that  is  in  a  strong,  capable,  well-trained,  and  mature  man. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  133 

It  is  a  position  for  which  a  young  man  ought  to  be  willing 
to  spend  many  years  in  hard  and  painstaking  preparation. 
To  be  able  to  obtain  a  small  superintendency  at  thirty,  and  a 
large  and  important  position  at  forty,  is  about  what  a  young 
man  desiring  to  prepare  for  the  work  should  be  content  to 
expect.  It  is  a  position  for  which  years  of  careful  prepara- 
tion should  be  made,  and,  given  equal  native  ability,  the 
more  careful  has  been  the  preparation  the  larger  is  likely  to 
be  the  ultimate  success. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  out  of  place,  at  this  point,  to  turn 
from  the  problems  of  school  administration  proper  and  de- 
vote the  remainder  of  this  chapter  to  a  description  of  the 
professional  preparation  which  a  young  man,  desiring  to 
prepare  for  school  superintendency  work,  should  make  to- 
day; the  type  of  professional  experience  he  should  acquire; 
and  the  kind  of  personal  qualities  he  ought  to  expect  to  bring 
to  the  work.  The  following  may  be  taken  to  represent  a 
minimum  professional  preparation,  if  any  large  future  suc- 
cess is  to  be  expected. 

Education  and  training.  In  the  first  place  a  good  college 
education  may  be  considered  as  an  absolute  essential  for 
future  work,  and  at  least  a  year  of  graduate  study,  doing 
advanced  work  in  the  study  of  educational  problems,  is 
practically  a  necessity  now.  Men  of  large  grasp  and  ability 
should  not  stop  here,  but,  after  a  few  years  of  practical  ex- 
perience, should  go  on  and  obtain  their  Ph.D.  degree. 

The  exact  nature  of  the  preliminary  preparation  is  perhaps 
less  important  than  that  it  should  be  good,  and  that  it 
should  challenge  the  best  efforts  of  the  student,  awaken 
worthy  ambitions,  and  stimulate  the  development  of  a  high 
ideal  of  service.  The  preparation  should  be  broad,  and 
should  early  open  up  to  the  student  permanent  interests  in 
fields  of  music  and  art,  literature,  history,  science,  and 
human  welfare.    These  he  needs  for  breadth  and  under- 


134  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

standing.  His  future  success  as  the  head  of  a  school  system 
will  to  a  rather  large  degree  depend  upon  his  intelHgent 
understanding  of  the  scientific  and  industrial  world  about 
him,  his  broad  human  sympathies,  and  his  ability  to  meet 
people  of  culture  and  refinement  on  their  own  plane. 

In  addition  to  this  preliminary  and  general  preparation 
the  student  needs  to  superimpose  a  technical  preparation  in 
educational  theory,  and  a  practical  preparation  in  actual 
school  practice.  As  early  as  the  sophomore  year,  certainly 
not  later  than  the  junior,  a  brief  introductory  course  on  the 
place,  purpose,  and  nature  of  public  education,  and  an  intro- 
duction to  educational  theory  can  be  taken  with  advantage. 
In  the  junior  and  senior  years  this  should  be  followed  with 
courses  which  give  a  good  general  introduction  to  the  differ- 
ent fields  of  educational  theory,  history,  administration,  and 
practice.  The  graduate  year  should  be  devoted  largely  to 
advanced  courses,  and  to  the  careful  working-out  of  some 
special  problem  in  educational  theory  or  practice.  What  is 
desired  is  a  good  introduction  to  the  different  fields  and  to 
the  literature  of  education,  and  some  practice  in  the  methods 
by  which  educational  problems  are  solved. 

The  years  of  apprenticeship.  All  of  this  is  merely  prelim- 
inary, however.  On  top  of  this  the  candidate  must  now 
spend  his  apprenticeship  and  period  of  preliminary  practice 
in  his  profession.^  The  five  or  six  years  which  he  now  spends 
in  teaching  or  in  serving  as  a  school  principal  ought  to  be 
years  when  he  more  than  doubles  the  effectiveness  of  his 
general  and  professional  collegiate  preparation.  If  necessary 
to  avoid  falling  into  a  rut,  or  getting  a  poor  or  one-sided  ex- 
perience, he  should  move  about  during  this  period.   If  salary 

1  This  period  of  apprenticeship,  which  we  may  assume  to  be  spent  in  a 
school  principalship,  involves  the  mastery  of  most  of  the  details  of  school 
organization  and  administration  as  applied  to  a  single  school.  This  work 
will  form  the  subject-matter  of  another  book  of  this  series,  on  The  Organi' 
zation  and  Administration  of  a  School. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  135 

does  not  seem  large  enough  to  cover  both  married  life  and 
study,  he  should  for  a  time  resolutely  put  marriage  aside. 

During  these  years  he  should  save  as  much  time  as  pos- 
sible for  careful  reading  and  study  along  the  lines  of  his 
future  profession.  Above  all,  during  these  years,  he  should 
gradually  crystallize  for  himself  a  working  educational  phi- 
losophy, to  guide  him  in  his  future  work  and  to  vitalize  all  of 
his  later  procedure.  He  must  seize  intelligent  hold  of  the 
conception  that  education  stands  for  the  higher  evolution 
of  both  the  individual  and  the  race,  and  must  relegate 
to  their  proper  place  in  the  educational  scheme  all  of  the 
details  of  organization,  administration,  and  instruction. 
Without  such  a  guiding  conception  administrative  work 
soon  becomes  dull  and  fruitless  routine. 

Learning  and  working.  He  should  now  accumulate  a  good 
working  library  along  the  line  of  his  major  interests.  He 
should  keep  closely  in  touch,  too,  with  all  advancements  and 
important  experiments  in  his  field,  and  with  what  other 
workers  elsewhere  are  doing.  He  should  welcome  new  school 
tasks,  making  himself  as  professionally  useful  as  possible, 
and  taking  a  deep  personal  satisfaction  in  doing  difficult 
things.  He  should  give  himself  good  practice  in  developing 
an  ability  to  speak  well  and  easily,  and  to  write  clearly  and 
convincingly.  He  should  mix  some  with  practical  men  of 
affairs,  from  whom  he  can  learn  much  that  will  be  very 
useful  to  him  later  on.  If  the  opportunity  offers  to  join  a  dis- 
cussion club,  especially  if  composed  of  men  older  and  more 
mature  than  himself,  he  should  embrace  the  chance.  He  may 
even  lead  in  the  formation  of  such  a  club  himself.  He 
should  read  biography,  and  study  and  try  to  imitate  the  best 
traits  of  the  successful  men  he  has  come  to  know,  both  in 
literature  and  real  life.  Often  some  old  doctor,  or  banker,  or 
lawyer  in  the  community  will  prove  worthy  of  some  close 
personal  study. 


136  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

He  should,  during  this  period,  keep  himself  free  from  all 
practices,  entanglements,  clubs,  and  especially  local  social 
obligations,  which  are  wasteful  of  time  and  energy  and  have 
in  them  little  that  is  of  permanent  profit.  He  must,  during 
these  years,  willingly  accept  work  and  burdens  which  lead 
toward  his  desired  goal,  and  resolutely  reject  those  which 
do  not.  He  should  know  and  remember  that  the  habit 
of  hard  and  faithful  work  is  one  that  is  established  but 
slowly,  that  it  requires  close  watching  of  one's  pole  star  to 
establish  it,  and  that  it  is  not  fully  established  in  most  men 
until  they  are  somewhere  near  thirty  or  thirty-five  years  of 
age.  He  should  also  know  and  remember  that  it  takes  about 
thirty-five  or  forty  years  of  hard  and  faithful  work  to  get 
ready  to  do  something  really  large  in  life. 

Rightly  used,  a  half-dozen  years  after  graduation  can  be 
spent,  with  great  future  advantage,  in  subordinate  positions 
in  the  practical  field. 

Dangerous  pitfalls.  It  is  during  these  years,  however,  that 
many  a  promising  young  man  goes  to  pieces,  so  far  as  any 
large  later  usefulness  in  educational  work  is  concerned.  His 
college  training  gave  him  some  feeling  of  mastery;  he  was 
trained  there  to  do  difficult  things  with  some  ease.  When  he 
goes  to  some  smaller  community  he  soon  finds  it  unnecessary 
to  work  as  he  has  done  before.  He  also  lacks  the  constant 
stimulus  to  sustained  effort.  Excepting  a  few  lawyers  and  a 
few  doctors,  he  is  already  one  of  the  best  educated  men  in  the 
small  city.  His  position,  perhaps  a  principalship,  gives  him 
at  once  a  special  standing  in  the  community.  The  people 
naturally  look  up  to  him  as  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
training  and  importance.  On  the  streets  the  men  call  him 
**  Professor,'*  and  pretty  grade  teachers  and  women  with 
marriageable  daughters  seek  him  out,  and  flatter  his  van- 
ity. His  daily  work  in  superintending  women  and  children, 
who  usually  accept  his  pronouncements  as  law,  perhaps 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  137 

gives  him  an  added  importance  in  his  own  eyes.  The  presi- 
dency of  societies  or  clubs  adds  further  to  his  local  impor- 
tance. 

He  soon  finds,  when  he  speaks  to  mother's  meetings  and 
at  church  affairs,  and  often  even  to  fellow  teachers,  that  he 
does  not  need  to  think  carefully  or  to  have  anything  of  real 
value  to  say.  He  begins  to  feel  his  local  importance;  he 
begins  to  take  life  easily  at  least  twenty  years  before  he 
has  earned  the  right;  he  ceases  to  read  and  study  the  prob- 
lems of  his  work;  he  falls  in  with  the  local  social  life;  and 
he  gradually  loses  sight  of  the  more  distant  goal  he  once 
set  out  to  reach.  Spoiled  by  too  easy,  too  small,  and  too 
early  successes,  in  a  decade  or  less  his  possible  usefulness 
for  large  work  elsewhere  has  about  reached  the  vanishing 
point. 

Personal  qualities  necessary.  While  good  training  and  ex- 
perience are  of  fundamental  importance  to  the  man  who 
wishes  to  prepare  for  educational  leadership,  certain  per- 
sonal qualities  must  be  added  to  both  if  any  large  success  is 
to  be  achieved.  The  man  who  would  be  a  superintendent  of 
schools  —  the  educational  leader  of  a  city  —  must  be  clean, 
both  in  person  and  mind;  he  must  be  temperate,  both  in 
speech  and  act;  he  must  be  honest  and  square,  and  able  to 
look  men  straight  in  the  eye;  and  he  must  be  possessed  of  a 
high  sense  of  personal  honor.  He  needs  a  good  time-sense  to 
enable  him  to  save  time  and  to  transact  business  with  dis- 
patch, and  a  good  sense  of  proportion  to  enable  him  to  see 
things  in  their  proper  place  and  relationship.  He  must  have 
the  manners  and  courtesy  of  a  gentleman,  without  being 
flabby  or  weak.  He  must  not  be  affected  by  a  desire  to  stand 
in  the  community  limelight,  or  to  talk  unnecessarily  about 
his  own  accompHshments.  He  must  avoid  oracularism,  the 
solemnity  and  dignity  of  an  owl,  and  the  not  uncommon 
tendency  to  lay  down  the  law.  A  good  sense  of  humor  will  be 


138  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

found  a  means  of  saving  grace  here,  and  will  many  times 
keep  him  from  taking  himself  too  seriously. 

He  must  be  alert,  and  able  to  get  things  done.  This  de- 
mands a  good  understanding  of  common  human  nature, 
some  personal  force,  and  some  genuine  political  skill.  He 
must  know  when  and  how  to  speak,  but  especially  when  and 
how  to  keep  silent.  He  must  know  when  and  how  to  take 
the  public  into  his  confidence,  and  when  not  to  tell  what  he 
desires  or  intends  to  do.  He  must  know  how  to  accept  suc- 
cess without  vainglory,  and  defeat  without  being  embittered. 
He  must  keep  a  level  head,  so  as  not  to  be  carried  away  by 
some  new  community  enthusiasm,  by  some  clever  political 
trick,  or  by  the  great  discovery  of  some  wild-eyed  reformer. 
He  must,  by  all  means,  avoid  developing  a  "  grouch  "  over 
the  situation  which  confronts  him,  for  a  man  with  that  atti- 
tude of  mind  never  inspires  confidence,  and  is  always  rela- 
tively ineffective. 

The  qualities  of  leadership.  He  must  learn  to  lead  by  rea- 
son of  his  larger  knowledge  and  his  contagious  enthusiasm, 
rather  than  to  drive  by  reason  of  his  superior  power.  The 
powers  and  prerogatives  which  are  guaranteed  him  by  law  he 
must  know  how  to  use  wisely,  and  he  should  be  able  to  wm 
new  powers  and  prerogatives  from  the  board  largely  by  rea- 
son of  his  ability  to  use  them  well.  He  must  constantly  re- 
member that  he  represents  the  whole  community  and  not 
any  part  or  fraction  of  it,  and  he  must  deal  equal  justice  to 
all.  As  the  representative  of  the  whole  community  he  will 
be  wise  not  to  ally  himself  at  all  closely  with  any  faction,  or 
division,  or  party  in  it. 

He  must,  out  of  his  larger  knowledge,  see  clearly  what  art 
the  attainable  goals  of  the  school  system,  and  how  best  and 
how  fast  to  attempt  to  reach  them.  From  his  larger  knowl- 
edge, too,  he  must  frequently  reach  up  out  of  the  routine  of 
school  supervision  and  executive  duties  into  the  higher  levels 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  139 

of  educational  statesmanship.  As  a  statesman,  too,  he  must 
know  how  to  take  advantage  of  time  and  opportunity  to 
carry  his  educational  policy  into  effect. 

By  conferences,  public  and  private,  with  leading  citizens; 
by  talks  to  parents  at  meetings  at  the  schools;  by  taking  the 
leaders  among  the  teachers  into  his  confidence;  by  dealing 
frankly  and  honestly  with  the  press  and  the  public;  by  his 
own  written  and  spoken  word,  especially  in  his  annual 
printed  reports,  and  by  inciting  others  to  write  and  speak; 
and  by  tact  and  diplomacy  in  dealing  with  the  members  of 
his  board,  he  must  try  to  develop  such  a  pubHc  opinion  that 
the  recommendations  which  he  makes  will  go  through  with- 
out serious  opposition,  and  be  readily  accepted  by  the  people 
of  the  community.  He  must  remember,  though,  that  Rome 
was  not  built  in  a  day;  that  it  takes  a  long  period  of  educa- 
tion to  accomplish  any  really  fundamental  reform;  and  that 
it  is  usually  not  necessary  to  rush  important  matters  to  an 
immediate  consideration. 

It  is  now  that  the  value  of  the  long  years  of  careful  prepa- 
ration becomes  apparent.  It  is  often  said  that  only  the  man 
who  is  master  of  his  calling,  who  overruns  its  mere  outHnes 
and  knows  more  about  the  details  of  his  work  than  any  one 
else  with  whom  he  must  work,  is  safe.  Out  of  his  large  knowl- 
edge of  the  details  and  processes  of  school  work,  gained  in  the 
years  of  apprenticeship  in  his  calling,  and  out  of  the  guid- 
ing educational  philosophy  which  he  has  slowly  built  up  for 
himseK,  he  can  see  ends  among  the  means  and  hope  amid 
the  discouragements,  and  be  able  to  steer  such  a  course 
amid  the  obstacles  and  trials  and  misunderstandings  of 
city  school  control  as  will  bring  a  well-thought-out  educa- 
tional policy  slowly  but  surely  into  reality.  To  such  a  man 
larger  and  larger  opportunities  keep  constantly  opening  up 
ahead. 


140  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Is  the  statement  that  the  superintendent  of  city  schools  is,  potentially, 
if  not  actually,  the  most  important  officer  in  the  employ  of  the  people 
of  a  municipality,  one  that  can  be  defended?  Illustrate  it. 

2.  Illustrate  the  statement  that  around  the  superintendent  the  schools 
revolve,  and  it  is  he  who  makes  or  mars  the  system. 

3.  Are  the  ages  at  which  important  superintendencies  may  be  expected 
materially  different  from  the  age  at  which  a  lawyer,  doctor,  or  engineer 
begins  to  achieve  large  success  in  his  profession? 

4.  Why  are  breadth  of  knowledge,  human  sympathy,  and  gentlemanly 
instincts  so  important  in  a  superintendent  of  schools? 

5.  Would  you  say  that  a  good  working  educational  philosophy  is  a  founda- 
tion stone  for  successful  administrative  work?  Illustrate.  Why  is  ad- 
ministrative work  likely  soon  to  become  dull  and  fruitless  routine  with- 
out such?  Illustrate. 

6.  During  the  principalship  or  practical-training  period,  would  you  ad- 
vise a  young  man:  (a)  To  join  an  Elks  lodge  or  other  fraternal  order? 
(b)  To  accept  the  presidency  of  a  current-events  club?  (c)  To  accept 
the  secretaryship  of  a  local  historical  society?  Why? 

7.  What  would  be  a  good  rule  for  a  young  man  to  make  regarding  speak- 

ing in  public? 

8.  What  is  the  importance  to  an  executive  of  (a)  a  good  time-sense? 
(6)  a  good  sense  of  proportion?  (c)  a  good  sense  of  humor? 

9.  Illustrate  what  you  understand  to  be  meant  by  the  statement  that  the 
superintendent  represents  the  whole  community,  and  hence  should  not 
ally  himself  at  all  closely  with  any  faction  or  division  or  party  in  it. 

10.  What  do  you  understand  to  be  meant  by  educational  statesmanship? 
Illustrate. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Bardeen,  C.  W.  Teaching  as  a  Business.    Bardeen,  Syracuse,  N.Y. 

A  bright  and  witty  description  of  the  characteristics  and  personality  of  the  common 
type  of  school  man.    Should  be  read  by  all. 

Butler,  N.  M.  "Problems  of  Educational  Administration";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  32,  pp.  515-24.    (December,  1906.) 
The  fundamental  problems  of  educational  statesmanship. 
Gary,  C.  P.    "Team  Play  between  City  Superintendent  and  City" ;  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  111-16. 

Good  general  article  on  need  for  larger  equipment  and  insight  on  the  part  of  school 
superintendents. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools ;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision. 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1904. 

Chapter  XIII,  on  the  educational  policy  of  the  community,  and  Chapter  XIV,  on 
education  for  supervision,  contain  many  concrete  illustrations  and  much  that  is 
suggestive. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  141 

Gorton,  Charles  E.  "The  Superintendent  in  Small  Cities";  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1900,  pp.  222-29. 

A  good  statement  of  the  work  and  possible  usefulness  of  a  superintendent  of  schools 
in  a  smaller  city. 

Gove,  Aaron.    "The  Trail  of  the  Superintendent";  in  Proceedings  of  Na- 
tional Education  Association,  1900,  pp.  214-22. 
The  origin,  growth,  and  problems  of  city  school  supervision. 

Jones,  L.  H.  "The  Politician  and  the  Public  Schools  ";  in  Atlantic  Monthly, 
vol.  77,  pp.  810-22.   (June,  1896.) 

An  excellent  description  of  the  work  of  a  superintendent  who  held  his  place  because 
he  was  master  of  his  calling. 

McAndrew,  William.  "The  Plague  of  Personality";  in  School  Review,  vol. 
22,  pp.  315-25.   (May,  1914.) 
Good  on  the  defects  of  school  men. 
Maxwell,  William  H.  "The  Superintendent  as  a  Man  of  Affairs";  in  Pro- 
ceedings of  National  Education  Association,  1904,  pp.  259-64. 
A  very  good  article  on  the  superintendent  as  an  educational  statesman. 

Seerley,  H.  H.  "City  Supervision";  in  Education,  vol.  xv,  pp.  518-25. 
(May,  1895.) 

The  professional  superintendent,  his  work,  personality,  management,  relationships, 
and  the  people  and  the  schools. 

Thwing,  Charles  F.  "A  New  Profession";  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  15, 
pp.  26-33.   (January,  1898.) 

The  opportunities  for  usefulness  of  a  city  superintendent  of  schools. 

Vance,  William  McK.  "How  shall  the  Superintendent  Measure  his  Own 
Efficiency?"  In  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1914, 
pp.  279-83. 

A  good  article  on  the  essential  qualities,  and  how  to  discover  and  improve  personal 
defects. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THREEFOLD  NATURE  OF  THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S 
WORK 

Three  types  of  service.  In  some  of  our  cities  the  superin- 
tendent began  largely  as  a  teacher  and  a  leader  of  teachers, 
and  such  continues  to  be  a  more  or  less  important  part  of  his 
work.  In  other  cities,  and  most  commonly,  he  began  as  the 
executive  officer  of  the  board  of  education,  and  such  in  some 
places  he  still  remains.  A  later  development,  but  without 
dropping  these  earlier  functions,  has  been  his  evolution  from 
a  teacher  and  an  executive  into  an  organizer  and  a  director 
for  the  schools. 

All  three  of  these  phases  of  the  superintendent's  work  exist 
in  every  city,  large  or  small,  though  in  somewhat  differing 
proportions  in  different  cities.  Under  the  first  we  speak  of 
him  as  a  supervisor,  under  the  second  as  an  executive  and 
an  administrator,  and  under  the  third  as  an  organizer  and  a 
formulator  and  director  of  an  educational  policy.  The  last 
easily  rises  into  educational  statesmanship,  and  may  develop 
into  statesmanship  of  a  high  order. 

The  smaller  the  school  system  the  more  the  duties  of  a 
supervisor  and  leader  of  teachers  are  prominent,  yet  even  in 
a  small  city  school  system  a  superintendent  should  have  be- 
fore him  a  clearly  defined  educational  policy  for  the  com- 
munity, which  he  works  slowly  to  bring  into  realization.^  As 

1  "If  the  superintendent  is  not  known  outside  of  the  schoolhouses,  much 
of  the  influence  he  should  exert  in  the  community  is  lost.  He  ought  to  be 
a  leader,  or  at  least  one  of  the  leaders  of  thought  in  his  community,  and  a 
maker  of  public  opinion."  C.  E.  Gorton,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Educa- 
tion Association,  1900,  p.  229. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  143 

the  school  system  grows,  or  as  the  superintendent  goes  to 
larger  cities  to  work,  the  executive  functions  are  likely  to 
crowd  in  upon  him  and  absorb  much  of  his  time.  These  are 
so  easy  to  take  up  and  so  hard  to  drop  that  he  must  always 
watch  that  mere  executive  duties  do  not  monopolize  too 
large  a  share  of  his  time  and  energy.  In  the  larger  school 
systems  the  supervisory  aspects  pass  largely  to  subordinates, 
while  the  larger  problems  of  organization,  administration, 
and  policy  come  to  absorb  most  of  the  superintendent's  time 
and  effort. 

Time  for  the  larger  problems.  Often  the  larger  success  of 
a  superintendent  will  he  in  his  not  trying  to  do  too  much 
of  any  one  thing.  In  a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  a 
superintendent  is  worth  most  to  a  city  when  he  keeps  himself 
most  free  from  detail  work  or  routine  service  of  any  kind,  and 
saves  his  time  and  energy  for  thinking  and  advising  on  the 
larger  problems  of  the  organization  and  administration  of 
the  schools.  The  modern  superintendent  must  be  more  than 
a  teacher  of  teachers,  and  more  than  merely  the  executive 
officer  of  the  board  of  education.  He  must  be  a  man  of 
affairs,  possessed  of  good  common  and  business  sense,  and 
good  at  getting  work  out  of  other  people,  but  keeping  him- 
seK  as  free  as  possible  from  routine  service  so  as  to  have  time 
to  observe,  to  study,  to  think,  to  plan,  to  advise,  to  guide, 
and  to  lead.  Large  knowledge,  broad  sympathies,  a  clearly 
conceived  educational  policy,  patience,  perseverance,  fore- 
sight, sound  judgment,  good  perspective,  and  executive 
power  are  the  qualities  now  in  demand  in  any  city  where  the 
problems  are  large  enough  to  demand  the  full  time  of  a  su- 
perintendent of  schools.  To  keep  free  time  for  this  larger 
thinking  is  one  of  the  marks  of  professional  grasp  and  of 
executive  skill. 

Loss  of  balance  and  perspective.  To  keep  this  balance 
in  his  work  and  perspective  on  his  problems  seems  to  be  one 


144  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

of  the  greatest  difficulties  superintendents  have  to  contend 
with.  On  all  sides  one  sees  superintendents  who  have  lost 
all  balance  in  their  work,  and  who,  as  a  result,  do  much  less 
thinking  on  the  larger  problems  of  the  schools  than  they 
should. 

Superintendent  A,  for  example,  spends  so  much  time  on 
his  mail  and  on  school  statistics  that  he  really  gets  little  else 
done;  Superintendent  B  is  so  occupied  with  bills  and  sup- 
plies, and  the  general  routine  work  of  a  business  clerk,  that 
he  can  scarcely  find  time  to  think;  Superintendent  C  has 
become  virtually  a  superintendent  of  buildings,  and  the  edu- 
cational aspect  of  his  school  system  has  been  lost  sight  of; 
Superintendent  D  is  so  much  a  teacher  of  teachers  that  he 
has  taken  over  many  of  the  functions  of  the  school  principals, 
and  neglects  the  board  and  its  problems,  with  the  result  that 
they  run  the  schools  and  he  has  but  little  authority  in  any 
matter;  Superintendent  E  spends  so  much  time  on  the  board 
and  the  politicians  that  he  is  seldom  seen  in  the  schools; 
while  Superintendent  F  has  become  a  mere  clerk  for  the 
board  of  education,  running  its  errands  and  executing  its 
decrees,  and  has  lost  sight  both  of  his  teachers  and  of  the 
larger  problems  of  the  community  which  supports  the 
schools. 

Any  such  one-sided  development  of  a  superintendent  de- 
prives the  city  employing  him  of  the  largest  services;  inevi- 
tably results  in  an  inferior  grade  of  educational  work  and  a 
lowered  tone  in  the  whole  school  system;  and  must  ulti- 
mately result  in  a  change  in  superintendent  for  the  best 
mterests  of  the  community  concerned.  Between  the  three 
aspects  of  his  work  the  superintendent  of  city  schools  must 
strive  to  preserve  a  proper  balance.  At  times  he  must  be  a 
supervisor,  or  a  teacher  of  teachers;  at  other  times  he  must 
be  an  executive  of  the  board  of  education;  and  at  still  other 
times  he  must  be  an  organizer  and  a  leader. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  145 

Let  us  now  consider  this  threefold  nature  of  the  superin- 
tendent's work,  doing  so  in  the  reverse  of  the  order  of  devel- 
opment. 

1.  The  superintendent  as  an  organizer 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  a  new  superintendent  should  be 
to  make,  as  it  were,  a  hasty  mental  survey  of  the  schools  and 
the  community  he  is  to  serve,  to  discover  their  peculiar  edu- 
cational needs,  and  to  see  how  fully  the  school  system  in 
existence  ministers  to  these  needs.  Out  of  such  a  survey,  and 
out  of  his  knowledge  and  experience,  he  must  then  plan  a 
more  or  less  definite  educational  policy  to  be  followed  in  the 
administration  and  development  of  the  schools.  The  details 
of  this  policy  he  may  find  it  wise  to  keep  to  himself,  and  he 
may  need  to  change  it  from  time  to  time. 

A  policy  for  development.  Such  a  policy  of  development 
may  include  many  things,  —  the  school  plant,  the  courses  of 
study,  new  types  of  schools  or  instruction  to  be  provided,  the 
classification  of  pupils,  textbooks,  apparatus,  and  supplies, 
the  work  of  teachers  or  principals,  the  selection  and  pay  of 
such,  playgrounds,  public  school  extension,  and  the  general 
educational  policy  to  be  pursued  in  the  administration  of 
the  school  system.  In  all  such  matters  the  superintendent 
should  take  the  initiative,  and  he  must  use  his  best  judgment 
as  to  what  points  to  press  and  what  ones  to  hold  in  abeyance 
for  more  propitious  days. 

He  will  be  wise,  too,  if  he  unfolds  the  details  of  his  policy 
to  his  board  and  to  the  people  only  about  as  rapidly  as  it  can 
be  comprehended  and  approved.  For  many  of  his  more 
important  ideas  and  plans  a  period  of  education  of  both  his 
board  and  the  community  must  be  expected  and  provided 
for,  and  the  more  carefully  this  is  done  the  less  will  be  the 
friction  occasioned  when  the  proposal  is  made  or  the  plan 
carried  into  effect.    To  neglect  this  important  part  of  the 


146  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

process  may  result  in  the  defeat  of  many  meritorious  and 
progressive  proposals.  To  merely  think  out  what  is  needed 
and  then  send  a  written  communication  to  the  board  re- 
questing such  a  measure  often  shows  relatively  poor  organ- 
izing skill  in  important  matters,  and  is  very  likely  to  result  in 
a  refusal  to  grant  the  request.  Persistence  in  such  a  course  is 
likely  to  develop  a  habit  on  the  part  of  the  board  of  refusing 
the  superintendent's  requests,  and  such  a  habit  is  not  good 
either  for  the  authority  of  the  superintendent  or  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  schools  under  his  control. 

Educating  a  board.  The  writer  once  asked  a  superintend- 
ent who  had  held  his  position  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  who  was  noted  for  his  ability  to  carry  his  board  of 
education  with  him,  what  was  the  secret  of  his  fine  control. 
His  answer  can  best  be  understood  by  reference  to  the 
following  sketch,  which  he  drew  on  a  piece  of  paper  as  he 
answered. 


M 


Fig.  11.    ILLUSTRATING  THE  PROCESS  OF   EDUCATING  A  SCHOOL  BOARD 

I  spend  much  time  [said  he]  in  familiarizing  my  board  with  the 
needs  of  the  schools,  and  the  reasons  for  the  recommendations  I 
desire  to  make.  Sometimes  this  is  done  by  taking  board  members 
with  me  for  a  day  in  the  schools,  sometimes  it  is  done  over  a  dinner 
table,  and  sometimes  it  is  done  by  a  quiet  personal  talk  at  their 
places  of  business  or  at  my  office.   Members  are  thus  made  cogni- 


THE   SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  147 

zant  of  the  needs  of  the  schools  and  of  the  reasons  for  action  before 
I  make  a  formal  recommendation  to  the  board  as  a  body.  Through 
my  annual  printed  reports,  too,  I  try  to  educate  both  the  board 
and  the  people,  so  that  new  measures,  when  approved,  do  not  seem 
so  very  new  to  the  community. 

Let  us  assume  now  [he  continued]  that  the  general  level  of  my 
board  of  education,  in  its  conception  of  what  the  school  system 
should  do  and  be,  is  represented  by  the  level  A.  My  conception  at 
this  same  time  is  represented  by  the  level  H. 

Now,  if  I  asked  them  to  move  at  once  up  to  my  level,  they  not 
only  would  not  do  it,  but  it  might  awaken  suspicions  in  their  minds 
as  to  the  soundness  of  my  judgment  and  as  to  where  I  was  leading 
them. 

I  accordingly  begin  a  process  of  education,  at  first  to  get  them  to 
move  to  the  level  B,  but  plainly  tell  them  that,  if  they  do,  they 
must  be  prepared  to  move  almost  at  once  to  C,  which  follows  as 
a  natural  corollary  of  the  move  to  B.  I  also  tell  them  plainly  that 
it  will  cost  about  so  much,  and  show  them  that  our  finances  will 
afford  it.  The  board  considers  the  proposal  reasonable  and  proper, 
and  before  long  approves  of  my  recommendation  in  the  matter. 
Not  only  do  they  approve  of  it  but,  thoroughly  understanding  it, 
they  defend  it  for  me  before  the  public,  if  defense  should  become 
necessary. 

I  now  let  them  alone  for  a  while,  because  the  step  to  the  next 
level,  D,  is  something  of  an  advance,  and  requires  a  reasonably  long 
period  of  education.  Still  more,  as  E  and  F  follow  as  natural  corol- 
laries after  D,  I  really  have  to  educate  them  up  nearly  to  F  before 
proposing  D.  In  course  of  time,  however,  I  get  D,  together  with 
EandF. 

About  this  time  an  election  comes  along,  and  half  my  board  is 
new.  The  general  average  conception  of  the  board  is  now  back  at 
D  or  C.  Some,  even,  do  not  understand  up  to  A.  This  is  of  course 
no  time  to  propose  new  things,  so  the  older  members  of  my  board 
and  I  start  in  on  a  process  of  educating  up  the  new  ones  to  the  aver- 
age level  we  had  attained  before  they  came  among  us.  In  time, 
however,  they  come  to  understand,  the  level  F  is  restored  once 
more,  and  it  soon  seems  possible  to  make  the  short  advance  to  G. 
A  little  later,  seeing  that  this  was  accepted  by  the  people  in  good 
spirit,  we  make  the  next  step  to  H. 

This  whole  process  from  A  to  H  may  have  taken  a  number  of 
years,  —  say  three,  or  four,  or  five.  But  now  my  ideas  as  to  what 


148  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  schools  ought  to  do  and  to  be  have  advanced  to  O,  and  I  now  see 
the  need  of  more  education  and  larger  leadership.  And  so  the 
process  goes  on  and  on,  and  will  continue  to  go  on  through  all  time. 

Importance  of  such  service.  It  is  by  means  of  such  careful 
work  as  this  that  the  superintendent  must  show  his  skill  as 
an  organizer  and  director  of  the  educational  affairs  of  a  city.^ 
It  is  primarily  the  business  of  a  superintendent  to  think  and 
to  propose,  and  primarily  the  business  of  a  board  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  his  proposals.  A  wise  superintendent  will  wel- 
come and  value  the  honest  criticism  of  the  broad-minded 
members  of  the  board  with  which  he  is  associated.  These 
men  see  the  proposal  much  as  the  community  will  see  it,  and 
often  from  quite  a  different  angle  from  that  at  which  the 
superintendent  views  it.  A  board  can  be  of  real  service  here 
in  pointing  out  errors  in  policies  and  mistakes  in  judgment, 
and  if  the  superintendent  can  answer  their  objections  and 
thoroughly  convince  them  of  the  desirability  and  feasibility 
of  what  he  proposes,  he  has  secured  able  advocates  when  it 
comes  to  dealing  with  the  public  later  on. 

Such  work  requires  time,  the  results  are  often  discourag- 

ingly  slow  in  coming,  but  it  is  fruitful  service  when  dealing 

with  the  representatives  of  the  public.  It  is  in  such  work  that 

a  superintendent  of  schools  often  renders  his  most  useful 

service  to  a  community,  and  the  importance  of  eliminating 

routine  work  and  of  keeping  time  free  for  observing  and 

thinking  can  hardly  be  over -emphasized  in  speaking  to 

1  "As  chief  administrator  of  the  system,  the  superintendent  has  a  policy, 
or  a  general  plan  of  administration.  There  is  something  to  be  accomplished ; 
there  must  be  careful,  well-formulated  plans  for  its  accomplishment.  These 
are  not  simply  present-tense  plans  but  rather  a  policy  which  looks  far 
into  the  future,  regardless  of  the  short  tenure  of  his  contact.  He  must 
plan  as  though  for  a  life-tenure;  it  is  only  by  means  of  such  plans  that  he  can 
avoid  time  service.  He  has  in  his  mind's  eye  the  growth  and  development 
of  five  years,  of  ten  years,  of  substantial  progress;  an  ideal,  if  you  please, 
toward  which  he  strives;  an  ideal  which  year  by  year  is  to  become  school 
life  and  school  atmosphere."  (Superintendent  M.  G.  Clark,  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  p.  304.) 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  149 

young  men  about  to  go  into  the  work.  If  the  superintendent 
is  to'  render  valuable  service  as  an  organizer  and  director  for 
a  school  system,  he  must  develop  and  slowly  carry  out  a 
thoroughly  sound  and  constructive  policy  for  the  improve- 
ment of  educational  conditions  in  the  community  he  serves. 

2.   The  superintendent  as  executive 

As  the  executive  officer  of  the  board  of  education  and  the 
chief  executive  of  the  school  system,  the  superintendent 
plays  a  somewhat  different  role.  Both  by  the  law  and  by  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  board  he  has  little  authority, 
except  in  matters  in  which  the  board  has  seen  fit  to  dele- 
gate authority  to  him,  yet  he  will  not  be  of  much  force  as  a 
superintendent  unless  he  can  come  to  exercise  rather  large 
powers.^ 

Proper  personal  and  official  relations.  The  relations  of  the 
superintendent  with  the  board  and  its  committees  call  for 
alertness,  diplomacy,  respect  for  authority,  good  judgment, 
practical  business  sense,  frankness  combined  with  courtesy, 
and  courage  and  conviction  at  times  when  courage  and  con- 
viction are  the  proper  characteristics  to  exhibit.  At  differ- 
ent times  he  will  be  director,  advisor,  petitioner,  and  serv- 
itor.  He  will  obtain  little  power  for  any  length  of  time  by 

1  "The  superintendent  is  the  executive  agent  of  the  school  committee, 
chosen  to  see  that  their  decisions  are  carried  out  and  that  the  school  ma- 
chine runs  smoothly  and  effectively;  but,  if  he  is  worthy  of  confidence,  he 
will  find  his  greatest  opportunity  in  guiding  by  his  advice  the  counsels  of 
the  school  committee.  This  influence  on  the  school  policy  of  a  community 
is  what  makes  him  an  important  official  and  differentiates  him  from  a  mere 
clerk.  He  should  not  be  officious,  neither  should  he  be  afraid  to  give  his 
opinion;  he  should  not  attempt  to  overawe  his  employers,  but  he  should 
realize  that  they  expect  him  to  advocate  the  best  things.  He  should  keep 
the  committee  informed  on  all  matters,  realizing  that  the  more  complete 
his  influence  the  greater  will  be  the  power  lodged  in  him.  A  school  com- 
mittee will  usually  allow  a  worthy  superintendent  to  do  almost  anything  he 
wishes,  provided  he  first  asks  their  permission."  (C.  A.  Brodeur  [see  ref- 
erences], p.  558.) 


150  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

driving,  nor  will  he  obtain  much  if  any  power  by  sitting  still 
and  looking  down  his  nose.  The  public  admires  courage  and 
firmness,  when  the  grounds  for  such  are  good,  but  even  more 
it  dislikes  mere  aggressiveness  and  an  arbitrary  assumption 
of  authority.  Between  these  two  extremes,  sometimes  near 
to  one  and  sometimes  near  to  the  other,  the  superintendent 
must  steer  his  course.^  The  danger  of  the  young  man  is  over- 
aggressiveness;  the  danger  of  the  old  man  is  passive  accept- 
ance. 

In  his  relations  with  his  board  as  its  executive  officer  he 
must  avoid  over-zeal  and  personal  feeling  in  the  matter  of  his 
recommendations.  He  should  familiarize  the  members  with 
the  needs  of  the  schools  and  the  reasons  for  his  recommenda- 
tions, but  he  would  better  see  them  turned  down  than  to 
lobby  or  set  up  combinations  to  carry  them  through.  Still 
less  should  he  lobby  to  elect  or  defeat  members,  or  to  carry 
or  defeat  committee  reports.  In  all  such  matters  he  will  do 
well  to  stand  on  the  wisdom  of  his  recommendations  and 
the  honesty  of  his  purposes,  and,  if  necessary,  accept  defeat. 
Perhaps,  after  all,  he  is  not  all-wise,  and  the  judgment  of  his 
board  may  be  better  than  his. 

In  any  case,  he  should  refuse  to  accept  opposition  as  per- 
sonal, even  though  it  may  be  so.  Neither  should  he  harbor 
grudges,  or  keep  up  fights  after  the  time  for  fighting  is  past. 
Any  man  of  business  capacity  cares  little  as  to  whether 

1  Superintendent  Blodgett  (see  references)  gives  seven  rules  for  the 
guidance  of  a  superintendent  in  dealing  with  situations,  as  follows:  — 

1.  Know  your  exact  relations  to  every  feature  of  your  work. 

2.  Get  close  to  the  heart  of  every  situation. 

3.  Take  a  tenable  position  on  all  debatable  questions,  and  speak  plainly 
without  being  pugnacious. 

4.  Be  loyal  to  the  decisions  of  those  in  authority. 

5.  Have  fixed  places  of  responsibility  and  have  that  responsibility  met. 

6.  Magnify  and  dignify  the  office  of  school  principal  and  supervisor. 

7.  With  your  full  corps  of  workers  establish  relations  founded  on  cor- 
dial frankness,  plain  speech,  and  sympathy. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  151 

people  agree  with  him  on  matters  of  policy  or  procedure,  if 
they  are  honest  and  fair  about  it,  so  far  as  personal  friendship 
is  concerned.  Often  a  superintendent  may  have  a  sincere 
admirer  in  some  lawyer  or  doctor  or  banker  on  his  board  who 
may  feel  that  he  must  oppose  certain  of  the  superintendent's 
plans.  This  is  a  common  experience  of  managers  in  the  busi- 
ness world,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  superintendents  of 
schools  should  be  exceptions  in  such  matters.^ 

Mutual  trust  and  confidence.  In  his  relations  with  his 
board  the  superintendent  should  strive,  by  his  acts,  to  de- 
velop a  feeling  of  mutual  trust  and  confidence.  Usually  this 
is  not  hard  to  do  with  any  board  which  has  the  good  of  the 
schools  at  heart.  Between  the  superintendent  and  his  board 
it  is  important  that  there  exist  the  most  complete  and  sat- 
isfactory understanding.  Such  should  exist  from  the  first. 
Each  should  trust  the  other,  and  should  counsel  together  on 
all  important  matters.  The  superintendent  should  watch 
carefully  that  no  act  of  his  shall  tend  to  destroy  this  good 
understanding. 

One  important  means  by  which  the  superintendent  may 
establish  such  confidence  is  to  show  that  he  understands 
thoroughly  the  details  of  his  work.  He  must  be  able  to  ad- 
vise the  board  intelligently,  and  be  willing  to  assume  and  to 
distribute  responsibility.  He  must  know  intimately  the  de- 
tails of  questions  likely  to  come  before  his  board,  and  be  able 
to  give  simple  reasons  why  things  should  or  should  not  be 
done. 

On  many  matters  he  must  decide  and  act  himself,  and 

1  "The  difference  between  the  attitude  of  the  manager  in  private  life 
and  the  manager  of  a  school  system,  under  such  circumstances,  is  very 
pronounced.  There  are  but  few  corporations  or  firms  which  would  not  in- 
stantly accept  the  resignation  of  a  manager  if  he  showed  petulance  or  irrita- 
tion, or  if  he  gave  the  board  its  choice  of  alternatives  —  i.e.,  Either  pass 
my  request  or  accept  my  resignation."  (F.  A.  Fitzpatrick,  in  Educational 
Review,  p.  2o0,  October,  1899.) 


152  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

without  bothering  the  board.  On  questions  of  policy  he  will 
need  to  consult  his  board  carefully,  but  to  be  continually 
bringing  up  matters  of  detail  for  a  ruling  or  a  decision  is  an 
almost  sure  way  to  lose  the  confidence  of  a  businesslike 
board.  To  say  to  a  board,  when  his  opinion  is  asked,  that  it 
can  decide  the  matter  as  well  as  he  can,  or  when  questioned 
about  the  schools  to  reply  that  he  does  not  know,  and  leave 
the  board  without  information  or  to  find  out  for  itself,  is 
shortsighted  and  foolish.  Once  train  a  board  in  this  way 
and  it  will  soon  be  deciding  important  matters  and  taking 
important  action  without  consulting  the  superintendent 
at  all.i 

Appealing  to  the  communily.  If,  as  sometimes  happens,  a 
board  does  not  have  the  best  interests  of  the  schools  at  heart, 
and  the  superintendent,  after  personal  conferences  and  the 
use  of  all  reasonable  diplomacy,  is  unable  to  stop  action 
clearly  against  the  best  interests  of  the  schools,  then  he 
should  remember  that  he  represents  the  community,  as  well 
as  the  school  board;  that  his  authority  with  them  in  such 
matters  is  really  joint;  and  that  the  people  expect  and  have 
a  right  to  know  his  individual  opinion  on  important  issues. 
In  such  cases  he  should  not  hesitate  to  present  his  point  of 
view  freely  and  positively,  in  open  board  meeting,  and  should 
refuse  to  be  smothered  up  in  a  secret  session  or  by  committee 
action.  The  stronger  the  confidence  which  the  community 
has  come  to  have  in  his  good  sense,  honesty  of  purpose,  fair- 
ness, and  sound  judgment,  the  heartier  will  be  their  sup- 
port of  him  should  he  ever  find  it  necessary  to  take  such  ac- 

1  It  may  be  said  that  a  superintendent  should  never  shirk  any  proper 
responsibility  or  decline  any  proper  power  which  a  board  offers  to  give  him; 
even  though  the  matter  be  a  very  unimportant  one,  and  one  which  the 
board  members  could  decide  as  well  as  he.  The  assumption  of  power  and 
responsibility,  relieving  members,  and  the  using  of  such  power  and  re- 
sponsibility wisely  and  well,  creates  confidence  and  leads  to  larger  and  larger 
grants.  The  man  who  can  and  is  willing  to  do  things  is  the  man  who  will  find 
plenty  of  things  to  do. 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  153 

tion.^  His  deep  conviction  as  to  what  is  best  for  the  schools 
must  guide  him  in  such  matters,  but  he  must  not  sacrifice 
his  independence  or  yield  his  written  or  unwritten  rights  on 
really  fundamental  questions  of  policy  or  procedure. 

Relations  with  the  community.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant assets  of  a  superintendent  in  the  prosecution  of  any 
and  all  phases  of  his  work  is  the  confidence  of  the  better  ele- 
ments of  the  community  in  his  fairness,  sound  judgment,  and 
professional  knowledge.  He  should  know  his  community 
and  be  able  to  feel  its  pulse  and  express  its  wants,  and  the 
community  should  know  him  and  believe  in  his  integrity  and 
honesty  of  purpose.  This  contact,  fortunately,  he  has  many 
opportunities  to  establish,  and  the  more  important  of  these 
opportunities  he  should  embrace. ^ 

As  the  head  of  the  school  system  of  the  community  he  holds 
a  position  of  particular  local  prominence,  and  his  work  as  an 
administrator  brings  him  into  daily  contact  with  parents  and 
citizens.  Every  contact  is  an  opportunity  to  leave  a  good 
impression,  and  to  add  something  to  the  strength  of  his 
control  of  the  schools.  With  perhaps  seventy-five  per  cent  of 

1  "While  theoretically  the  city  superintendent  is  but  the  executive  officer 
of  the  board  of  education,  practically,  wherever  his  lot  is  cast,  he  is  the  chief 
power.  Boards  of  education  often  are  composed  of  members  who  are  ac- 
tively and  persistently  engaged  in  other  interests.  They  are  not  consulted, 
and  ought  not  to  be  consulted,  in  the  detailed  management  of  the  schools. 
It  is  seldom  that  difficulties  occur  in  the  superintendent's  life  that  have  their 
rise  in  the  board  of  education.  The  board  is  but  a  reflex  representative  of  the 
people;  seldom  independent  or  beyond  the  influence  of  public  opinion,  even 
when  public  opinion  is  rash  and  unreliable.  It  follows  from  this  that  the 
administration  of  a  given  superintendent  depends  little  upon  the  board  of 
education,  but  upon  the  character  of  the  schools  on  the  one  side  and  the 
opinion  of  the  people  on  the  other.  (J.  M.  Greenwood,  in  Educational  Re- 
view, vol.  18,  p.  375,  November,  1899.) 

2  In  addition  to  the  few  means  mentioned  here,  the  annual  printed  re- 
port covering  the  work  of  the  schools  should  not  be  forgotten.  This  is 
referred  to  more  at  length  in  Chapter  XXVI.  Rightly  used,  the  annual 
report  can  be  made  of  very  large  importance  in  the  education  of  a  com- 
munity. 


154  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

those  whom  he  meets  from  day  to  day  in  his  official  capacity 
it  will  be  their  only  meeting,  so  that  it  is  important  that  the 
impression  made  as  to  his  personality,  education,  tact,  and 
good  judgment  be  as  favorable  as  possible.  If  well  used,  this 
daily  contact  may  prove  a  source  of  much  community 
strength;  if  not,  it  will  ultimately  prove  his  undoing. 

So  far  as  is  possible  every  conference  with  a  parent  or  a 
citizen,  either  at  the  superintendent's  office  or  elsewhere, 
should  add  something  to  the  community  respect  for  the 
superintendent  and  the  community  belief  in  the  system  of 
public  instruction  which  he  represents.  To  this  end  the 
superintendent  must  not  be  arbitrary,  impatient,  unreason- 
able, personally  aggrieved,  or  any  of  a  number  of  other 
things  which  superintendents  too  frequently  are  and  do.  A 
pleasant  word,  a  promise  to  investigate,  absence  of  personal 
pique,  consideration  for  the  other's  point  of  view,  and  a 
certain  democratic  simplicity  and  directness,  frequently 
make  friends  of  those  who  came  only  to  complain.^ 

The  work  of  the  schools,  particularly  the  many  little  special 
occasions,  also  offer  opportunities  for  the  superintendent  to 
add  to  the  community's  good  opinion  of  their  schools.  A 
few  well-chosen  words,  not  too  long,  and  not  about  "  my 
policies  "  or  **  my  ideas,"  but  of  a  character  designed  to  give 
the  community  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
what  the  teachers  are  doing  and  the  work  of  the  schools  in 
the  community,  can  be  made  of  much  value  in  developing 
community  support  for  future  educational  policies.  What 
the  superintendent  has  to  say  must  be  simple,  straightfor- 
ward, constructive,  and  well  expressed.    To  apologize  to  an 

^  "The  superintendent  should  be  large  enough  in  spirit  to  be  above  petty 
quarrels  and  jealousies,  fair  enough  to  work  with  others  even  when  no  per- 
sonal gain  is  the  result,  sympathetic  enough  to  see  matters  from  the  point 
of  view  of  teachers,  pupils,  and  parents,  and  democratic  enough  to  recognize 
the  just  claims  of  all  with  whom  he  has  to  do."  (C.  A.  Brodeur  [see  ref- 
erence], p.  558.) 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  155 

audience  for  not  being  prepared,  or  to  scold  them  for  their 
shortcomings,  are  two  things  which  should  be  studiously- 
avoided.  The  conservatism  and  ofttimes  the  ignorance  of  a 
community  he  must  himself  accept  as  perfectly  natural,  and 
without  complaining  about  it.  People  are  by  nature  con- 
servative, and  it  is  not  only  the  duty  but  also  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  superuitendent  to  educate  them  up  to  the 
larger  needs  of  their  schools.^ 

S.  The  superintendent  as  swperviscyr 

The  third  phase  of  the  superintendent's  work  is  that  which 
brings  him  into  close  relations  with  special  supervisors, 
principals,  teachers,  and  pupils.  All  of  the  other  types  of 
work  are  in  a  sense  preliminary  to  this  third  function,  though, 
as  school  systems  grow  larger  and  larger,  the  superintendent 
must,  of  necessity,  delegate  more  and  more  of  this  work  to 
subordinates.  Still,  however  large  the  school  system  may 
become,  the  knowledge  and  influence  of  the  superintendent 
must  reach  down  through  all  of  the  complicated  machinery 
of  school  organization  and  administration  and  vitalize  the 
work  of  the  teachers  in  the  schools.  His  broader  professional 
knowledge  and  his  larger  insight  into  educational  needs  must, 
in  some  way,  find  expression  in  the  daily  work  of  teachers 

^  "A  well-regulated  school  system,  managed  by  professional  educators, 
is  always  ahead  of  the  community  at  large  in  both  method  and  outlook. 
Now,  unless  school  needs  and  school  aims  are  understood  by  the  people,  a 
gulf  widens  between  them  which  is  finally  bridged  only  by  criticisms  and 
protests  signed  'taxpayer.'  The  superintendent  should  lend  a  hand  to  any 
undertaking  which  dignifies  his  office,  or  which  seeks  to  establish  points  of 
contact  between  the  schools  and  the  public  they  serve.  If  there  be  parents' 
meetings,  he  had  better  attend;  if  there  be  mothers'  clubs,  he  had  better 
speak  when  asked;  if  the  Sunday-School  teachers  wish  an  address,  he  had 
better  give  it;  if  some  one  asks  the  rather  dubious  question  'What  do  you 
do  anyway? '  he  had  better  explain  himself  in  simple,  indisputable  terms,  so 
that  mothers  and  fathers  shall  grow  to  feel  that  no  community  should  be 
without  him."  (Alice  E.  Reynolds,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education 
Association,  1904,  p.  270.) 


156  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  pupils  if  his  highest  mission  as  a  superintendent  is  to 
be  fulfilled. 

This  phase  of  the  superintendent's  labors  so  clearly  belongs 
to  his  services  as  the  head  of  the  instructional  work  of  the 
schools  that  further  consideration  of  it  is  deferred  to  Chapter 
XIII. 

Dangers  faced  by  the  superintendent.  In  carrying  on 
his  work,  in  its  threefold  aspect,  the  superintendent  of 
schools  faces  certain  dangers,  other  than  those  so  far  pointed 
out. 

He  must  not  lose  confidence  in  himself,  for  out  of  confi- 
dence in  himseK  come  almost  all  his  other  powers.  Such  con- 
fidence, if  it  is  of  the  right  kind,  comes  largely  from  a  sense 
of  mastery  of  the  details  of  his  calling.  The  world  always 
steps  aside  to  let  a  man  pass  who  knows  where  he  is  going, 
but  it  often  crushes  the  man  who  does  not  know  whither  he 
is  bound.  He  must  not  repose  too  much  confidence  in  other 
people.  To  trust  subordinates  and  friends  wisely,  but  not 
too  much,  is  something  he  must  learn.  Sustained  by  the 
justice  of  his  cause,  and  guided  by  an  educational  philoso- 
phy that  gives  point  and  direction  to  his  administrative 
labors,  he  must  not  take  as  personal  the  criticisms,  reverses, 
and  even  the  humiliations  of  which  he  must  expect  and  ac- 
cept his  full  share.  He  must  not  underestimate  to  himself  the 
value  of  his  services,  nor  must  he  expect  the  people  to  ap- 
preciate fully  what  he  is  doing  for  them.  A  superintendent 
of  schools  works  distinctly  for  the  next  generation;  without 
becoming  egotistical  or  autocratic,  his  own  personal  sense  of 
the  importance  of  his  work  must  be  his  own  greatest  reward. 
•  He  must  avoid,  too,  almost  above  all  else,  a  low  physical 
tone  due  to  overwork,  wasted  energy,  fretting  over  condi- 
tions he  cannot  help,  or  other  causes,  for  no  executive  can 
do  his  best  work  when  he  is  in  poor  physical  condition.  His 
exercise,  his  food,  his  sleep,  and  his  leisure  he  must  guard 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT'S  WORK  157 

carefully,  for  out  of  these,  as  it  were,  come  his  balance,  his 
perspective,  his  insight,  his  reliabihty,  and  his  reserve  force 
for  the  emergencies  of  his  daily  work. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Explain  how  educational  organization  may  evolve  into  educational 
statesmanship.   Illustrate. 

2.  In  what  way  does  a  clearly  defined  educational  policy  serve  to  trans- 
form the  details  of  administration  from  routine  to  constructive  serv- 
ice? 

,3.  Illustrate  how  a  superintendent  may  become  so  busy  with  administra- 
tive details  that  he  may  have  no  time  left  for  real  constructive  service. 

4.  Why  is  a  man  who  actually  works  less  likely  to  be  worth  more? 

5.  Why  should  a  superintendent  not  tell  his  plans  too  much  in  advance? 
8.  What  should  be  a  superintendent's  relations  with  the  local  newspapers? 

7.  Should  a  superintendent  take  complaints  and  criticism  as  personal  and 
feel  hurt?  Illustrate. 

8.  Illustrate  your  conception  of  the  process  of  educating  a  board  and  a 
committee  to  understand  the  need  of 

(a)  a  class  for  the  oral  instruction  of  deaf  children; 
(6)  a  class  for  subnormal  children; 

(c)  a  class  for  supernormal  children; 

(d)  the  establishment  of  an  intermediate  school,  to  include  the 
seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  grades,  to  be  taught  by  the  depart- 
mental plan,  with  specially  selected  teachers; 

assuming  that  no  such  schools  exist  in  your  vicinity,  and  that  the 
board  and  the  people  are  unfamiliar  with  these  educational  ideas. 

9.  For  Fig.  11  make  out  a  series  of  moves  to  correspond  mth  the  dif- 
ferent letters,  preserving  the  proportion  and  relative  sequence  of  the 
steps  as  explained,  such  as  might  exist  in  the  plans  of  a  superintendent 
for  the  development  of  his  school  system. 

10.  Illustrate  how  a  superintendent  can  utilize  opportunities  to  educate 
the  community  in  connection  with  school  happenings  and  events. 
What  kind  of  topics  should  he  talk  about? 

11.  Illustrate  how  a  superintendent's  daily  contact  with  people  may 

(a)  add  strength  to  his  position  and  control  of  the  schools; 
(6)  prove  his  ultimate  undoing. 

12.  Distinguish  between  "feeling  the  community's  pulse"  for  construc- 
tive work,  and  "keeping  one's  ear  to  the  ground"  to  know  what  to 
do. 

13.  Illustrate,  by  concrete  cases,  the  sentence,  "At  different  times  the 
superintendent  wall  be  director,  advisor,  petitioner,  and  servitor,"  in 
his  relations  with  his  board. 

14.  Explain  the  basis  for  the  statement  that  the  longer  a  superintendent 


158  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

has  been  in  a  position  the  more  details  he  should  settle  without  con- 
sulting his  board.  On  what  assumption  is  such  a  statement  based? 

15.  Give  three  illustrations  for  each  of  the  three  main  phases  of  a  superin- 
tendent's activity,  namely,  as  organizer,  as  administrator,  and  as 
executive. 

16.  After  six  days  of  work  for  the  schools,  should  a  superintendent  refuse 
to  teach  a  Sunday-School  class  on  Sunday? 

17.  What  kind  of  topics  might  a  superintendent  talk  on,  and  what  kind  of 
a  speech  should  he  make,  in  addressing 

(a)  a  parents'  meeting? 
(6)  a  mothers'  club? 

(c)  a  Sunday-School-teacher  group? 

(d)  a  Chamber-of-Commerce  luncheon? 

18.  Suppose  that  you  are  a  city  superintendent  of  schools,  and  that  you  are 
present  at  a  meeting  called  to  consider  a  proposal  to  build  a  new  school. 
An  objector,  in  the  course  of  a  talk,  says  that  the  superintendent  is 
responsible  for  the  proposition,  is  an  unnecessary  official,  and  says,  in 
closing,  that  he  would  like  to  know  "What  he  does,  anyway?"  How 
would  you  answer  him? 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Blodgett,  A.  B.  "The  Most  Effective  Use  of  the  Superintendent's  Time"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1903,  pp.  224-28. 

An  excellent  article  on  the  work  of  a  superintendent.  How  to  save  time,  and  how  to 
fix  responsibility  and  get  work  done. 

Brodeur,  C.  A.  "School  Supervision";   in  Report  of  U.S.  Commissioner  of 
Education,  1902,  vol.  i,  pp.  556-60. 
A  good  brief  outline  of  the  superintendent's  work  and  the  possibilities  of  his  position* 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision. 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1904. 

Chapter  III,  Part  II,  on  the  affairs  of  the  superintendent,  and  Chapter  V  on  the 
superintendent,  contain  many  concrete  illustrations  and  much  that  is  suggestive. 

Denfield,  R.  E.  "The  Superintendent  as  an  Organizer  and  an  Executive"; 

in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1900,  pp.  287-96. 

An  excellent  article,  contrasting  these  two  phases  of  a  superintendent's  work,  and 
offering  many  practical  suggestions. 

DeWeese,  T.  A.  "Two  Years'  Progress  in  the  Chicago  Schools";  in  Edu- 
cational Review,  vol.  24,  pp.  325-37.   (November,  1902.) 

An  excellent  article  on  tactful  cooperation  between  the  board  of  education  and  the 
superintendent  of  schools. 

Fitzpatrick,  F.  A.  "Minor  Problems  of  the  School  Superintendent";  in 
Educational  Review,  vol.  18,  pp.  234-51.    (October,  1899.) 

An  excellent  article.  Describes  many  of  the  common  mistakes  of  school  superintend- 
ents which  ultimately  result  in  their  undoing. 


THE  SUPEKINTENDENT'S  WORK  159 

Gorton,  C.  E.    "The  Superintendent  in  Small  Cities";  in  Proceedings  of 
National  Education  Association,  1900,  pp.  222-29. 
A  good  general  article  on  the  superintendent's  work  and  influence. 
Greenwood,  J.  M.  "The  Superintendent  and  the  Board  of  Education";  in 
Educational  Review,  vol.  18,  pp.  363-77.    (November,  1899.) 

A  good  general  article  on  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  proper  relationships. 

Symposium.   "City  School  Supervision";  five  articles  in  Educational  Re-' 
view,  as  follows:  — 
I.  Gove,  Aaron,  vol.  n,  pp.  256-61.   (October,  1891.) 
II.  Greenwood,  J.  M.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  362-65.    (November,  1891.) 

III.  Balliet,  T.  M..  vol.  n,  pp.  482-86.    (December,  1891.) 

IV.  Tarbell,  H.  S.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  65-69.    (January,  1892.) 
V.  Harris,  W.  T.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  167-72.   (February,  1892.) 

Five  good  articles.  The  last  is  in  the  nature  of  a  summary  and  an  amplification  of 
the  preceding  four. 

White,  E.  E.    "The  Authority  of  the  School  Superintendent";  in  Pro- 
ceedings of  National  Education  Association,  1899,  pp.  314-20. 
A  general  article  on  the  growth  of  the  powers  of  the  superintendent,  and  on  present 


CHAPTER  XII 

CITY  SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION 

Size  and  distribution  of  cities.  There  were,  in  1918,  2401 
cities  and  towns  of  over  2500  inhabitants  in  the  United 
States,  which  made  statistical  returns  to  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education.  A  tabulation  of  these  returns 
shows  the  following  distribution  of  the  cities  as  to  size,  to- 
gether with  the  number  of  superintendents  and  assistant 
superintendents  of  schools  for  such,  by  groups,  together 
with  the  number  of  special  supervisors  and  school  princi- 
pals employed,  the  number  of  different  schools  maintained 
in  each  group  of  cities,  and  the  totals  for  each  of  the  items:  — 


Number 

of  such 

cities 

reporting 

Number  employed  (1918) 

Size  of  cities 
(Estimaie  for  1918) 

Superintend- 
ents and 
assistant  su- 
perintendents 

Special 
supervisors 

School 
principala 

Over  100,000 

30,000  to  100,000 

10,000  to     30,000 

5,000  to     10,000 

2,500  to       5,000 

51 
141 

420 

627 

1162 

220 
177 
447 
627 
1041 

3988 
1812 
1555 

772 
720 

4501 
3306 
4302 
4124 
5013 

Totals 

2401 

2512 

8847 

21,246 

Calculating  averages  for  these  same  groups  of  cities,  we 
get  the  following  average  distribution  of  superintendents, 
assistant  superintendents,  special  supervisors,  and  school 
principals  combined,  based  on  both  the  number  of  teachers 
employed  and  the  number  of  pupils  in  average  daily  at- 
tendance for  each  group. 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION         161 


Total  number 

of  supervisory 

officers 

employed 

Total 

number 
of  teachers 
employed 

Ratio  of  supervisory  officers  to 

Size  of  cities 
{Estimate  for  1918) 

Teachers 
employed 

Pupils  in 

average  daily 

attendance 

Over  100,000 

30,000  to  100,000 

10,000  to    30,000 

5,000  to    10,000 

2,500  to      5,000 

8,709 
5,295 
6,304 
5,523 
6,774 

99,412 
42,245 
40,495 
28,991 
30,239 

1  to  11 
1  to     8 
1  to     6 
1  to    5 
1  to    4 

1  to  303 
1  to  159 
1  to  168 
1  to  140 
1  to  116 

Totals 

32,605 

241,382 

1  to     8 

1  to  211 

From  the  above  tables  we  see  that  the  2401  special-type 
large  school  districts  which  we  know  as  city  school  dis- 
tricts —  out  of  a  total  of  somewhere  between  300,000  and 
350,000  school  districts  of  all  kinds  in  the  United  States  — 
employed  approximately  an  average  of  15  supervisory  offi- 
cers of  all  kinds  for  each  city.  These  2401  cities  also  em- 
ployed 39  per  cent  of  all  the  teachers  in  the  public  schools 
of  the  United  States,  and  enrolled  approximately  29  per 
cent  of  all  the  pupils  enrolled  in  public  day  schools.  The 
special  character  of  the  problems  of  organization  and  admin- 
istration in  the  city  school  districts  will  be  apparent  from 
these  tables.  The  51  cities  which  had  in  1918  over  100,000 
inhabitants  have  an  even  more  special  character.  Though 
constituting  a  little  more  than  2  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  cities,  these  51  nevertheless  employed  over  24 
per  cent  of  the  supervisory  officers  and  40  per  cent  of  the 
teachers  employed  in  the  2401  cities,  and  enrolled  43  per 
cent  of  the  pupils  enrolled  in  city  public  day  schools. 

The  small  city  school  system.  It  will  be  seen  from  the 
tables  just  given,  too,  that  nearly  three-fourths  (74.5  per 
cent)  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States  had  less  than  10,000 
inhabitants  in  1918,  and  that  2209  of  the  2401  (92.0  per 
cent)  had  less  than  30,000  inhabitants.  It  is  in  these  smaller 


162  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  often  rapidly  growing  cities  that  the  problems  of  organ- 
ization and  administration  have  to  be  solved  by  the  largest 
number  of  superintendents,  and  often  under  conditions  which 
are  far  from  ideal.  It  will  be  seen  also  that  the  superintend- 
ents in  these  smaller  cities  have  to  work  with  the  least  help, 
and  must,  of  necessity,  be  superintendents  of  a  somewhat 
general  and  undifferentiated  type.  All  of  the  administrative 
problems  that  in  a  large  city  are  divided  among  a  number  of 
supervisory  officers,  in  so  far  as  these  problems  touch  a 
small  city,  must  here  be  handled  by  the  superintendent  and 
the  board  of  education  acting  almost  alone.  The  board,  in 
such  cities,  is  usually  in  much  more  intimate  touch  with  the 
schools  than  is  the  case  in  the  larger  cities,  and  attempts  to 
handle  many  problems  which  in  larger  and  better  organized 
cities  are  left  to  executive  officers.  The  superintendent,  too, 
is  supposed  to  be  more  of  a  teacher  and  a  leader  of  teachers 
than  is  the  case  in  the  larger  cities. 

Still,  all  phases  of  the  problems  of  organization  and  ad- 
ministration and  supervision,  in  the  course  of  time,  come  to 
the  door  of  the  superintendent  of  these  smaller  cities,  and 
in  many  ways  it  requires  as  high  a  degree  of  professional  and 
political  skill  to  be  a  successful  superintendent  in  a  small 
city  as  in  a  larger  one.  The  chief  difference  lies  in  that  the 
problems  are  smaller  in  scale,  and  that  the  people  are  not  so 
critical  if  the  superintendent  is  unprogressive  or  incompetent, 
while  the  demand  for  real  educational  statesmanship  is 
much  less  prominent.  The  personal  and  political  conditions, 
on  the  other  hand,  and  the  educational  conservatism  of  the 
people  may  be  much  more  marked  and  much  more  trying  to 
a  man  who  knows  than  in  a  larger  city. 

The  comprehensive  type  of  superintendent.  Since  almost 
every  type  of  problem  in  organization,  administration,  and 
supervision  will,  in  time,  present  itself  to  the  superintendent 
in  a  smaller  city  for  solution,  he  must  of  necessity  be  an  all- 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION        163 

round  man,  conversant  with  the  different  phases  of  his  work, 
and  able  to  do  many  things  rapidly  and  well.  Good  general 
and  professional  training,  and  good  experience  in  an  elemen- 
tary-school principalship,  will  prove  of  much  value  to  a 
young  school  superintendent  at  such  a  time. 

At  one  time  he  must  be  an  organizer  and  planner  for  the 
development  of  the  system,  often  looking  into  the  future  be- 
yond the  vision  of  the  teachers,  the  board,  or  the  people. 
At  another  time  he  must  be  an  expert  on  school  organiza- 
tion, bringing  to  teachers,  principals,  the  board,  and  the 
people  the  best  experience  of  other  cities.  At  another  time 
he  must  be  an  expert  on  the  making  and  administration  of 
a  course  of  study,  slowly  educating  those  associated  with 
him  up  to  his  larger  point  of  view.  At  another  time  he  must 
be  an  expert  investigator  and  tester  of  the  work  of  the 
schools,  and  the  progress  of  the  pupils  therein.  At  another 
time  he  must  be  an  expert  on  the  details  of  schoolhouse  con- 
struction, and  on  the  proper  care  and  maintenance  of  the 
school  plant.  At  another  time  he  must  be  an  expert  on  play- 
grounds and  playground  work.  At  another  time  he  must  be 
the  real  authority  back  of  the  attendance  officer,  adminis- 
tering the  law,  and  protecting  the  educational  rights  of  the 
children.  At  another  time  he  must  be  protecting  these  same 
rights  in  the  employment,  dismissal,  or  safeguarding  from 
injustice  of  teachers.  At  another  time  he  is  again  voicing  the 
need  of  the  children,  or  protecting  them  along  the  line  of 
health  control.  At  another  time  he  is  a  business  man,  look- 
ing after  purchases,  budgets,  and  the  larger  problems  of  ed- 
ucational finance.  At  another  time  he  is  a  petitioner  before 
the  board,  asking  for  some  improvement  in  conditions,  some 
new  grant  of  power,  or  some  change  in  ruling,  and  following 
this  he  is  the  servant  of  the  board,  seeing  that  its  decisions 
are  carried  out.  At  another  time  he  is  an  administrator, 
looking  after  the  hundred  and  one  little  details  of,  daily 


164  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

school  administration, —  dictating  letters,  meeting  people, 
smoothing  out  difficulties,  eliminating  friction,  and  adding 
to  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  their  schools.  At  other 
times  he  is  a  supervisor  of  teachers,  directing  them,  inspir- 
ing them  to  larger  service,  and  extending  helpful  supervi- 
sion to  them. 

Dangers  of  such  a  position.  Such  a  superintendent,  if  he 
is  a  real  superintendent,  lives  a  busy  life,  and  the  constant 
danger  he  faces,  aside  from  exhaustion  from  overwork  or 
worry,  is  that  of  losing  his  balance  and  perspective  amid 
the  many  problems  of  his  work.  To  do  so  means  to  become 
a  onesided  superintendent  —  an  office  clerk,  a  purchasing 
and  business  agent,  a  building  superintendent,  an  office  ad- 
ministrator, or  merely  a  supervisor  of  instruction.  Of  all  the 
one-sided  developments,  that  of  becoming  a  mere  supervisor 
of  instruction  is  the  least  dangerous,  because  in  a  small  city 
this  is  the  most  important  of  all  his  services. 

It  is  easy  in  a  small  city  school  system,  where  there  is 
little  professional  competition  and  the  community  stand- 
ards for  success  are  low,  to  develop  into  an  office  man,  pick- 
ing up  easy  routine  work  and  neglecting  more  important 
functions,  and  later  become  a  political  superintendent,  with 
ultimate  loss  of  position  ahead.  A  board  of  education  and 
a  community  have  a  right  to  demand  that  their  superintend- 
ent shall  be  a  student  of  educational  administration  and 
problems,  and  that  he  shall  keep  himself  informed  as  to 
progress  elsewhere;  ^  and  the  superintendent,  in  turn,  has 

1  A  new  superintendent  in  a  city  of  about  20,000  inhabitants  was  asked 
by  the  board  of  education  if  he  desired  to  suggest  any  changes  in  their 
printed  rules  and  regulations.  Among  a  number  of  suggestions  he  offered 
the  following,  which  was  heartily  approved  by  the  board:  — 

*'  Sec.  23.  The  superintendent  of  schools  shall  be  expected  to  be  a  student 
of  educational  theory  and  practice,  and  shall  be  expected  to  acquaint  him- 
self with  progress  being  made  elsewhere,  in  order  that  the  board  of  educa- 
tion and  the  teachers  in  the  schools  may  be  advised  as  to  the  best  methods 
and  plans  for  improving  the  education  of  the  children  in  the  schools.  To 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION        165 

a  right  to  demand  of  his  board  enough  freedom  from  routine 
and  other  service  to  enable  him  to  have  some  free  time  for 
reading,  study,  and  visitation,  that  he  may  keep  abreast  of 
progress  in  theory  and  practice.^ 

Organization  in  a  small  city.  The  scheme  of  organization 
in  a  small  city  is  exceedingly  simple.  The  people,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  state  law,  elect  the  school  board  as  their 
representatives,  and  the  school  board  and  its  committees 
virtually  conduct  the  schools.  The  power  and  the  authority 
which  a  superintendent  has  legally,  under  most  of  our  pres- 
ent-day laws,  is  usually  very  small.  By  knowing  his  work, 
and  by  the  exercise  of  tact,  courtesy,  and  good  judgment,  a 
superintendent  can  often  come  to  exercise,  usually  by  tacit 
consent,  rather  large  powers  in  the  organization  and  admin- 
istration of  the  schools.  When  he  leaves,  his  successor  prob- 
ably will  have  to  prove  himself  and  to  establish  a  similar 
degree  of  confidence  in  his  ability  and  good  judgment  be- 
fore he  can  succeed  to  the  powers  exercised  by  the  former 
man.  A  young  man  should  expect  to  do  this;  it  is  good  train- 
ing for  him  to  do  it. 

The  place  of  the  superintendent  in  the  scheme.  The 
proper  scheme  of  organization  in  a  small  city  is  represented 
by  Figure  12.  Acting  in  conjunction  with  the  board  and  its 
committees,  the  superintendent  manages  and  directs  the 
schools.  He  acts  as  the  secretary  and  executive  officer  of  the 
board  of  education,  executes  its  decisions,  acts  as  its  rep- 
resentative before  the  schools,  the  people  of  the  community 

this  end  the  superintendent  shall  be  permitted,  in  his  discretion,  to  set  aside 
time  for  personal  study,  and  may  also,  in  his  discretion,  absent  himself  from 
the  city  for  not  to  exceed  three  days  at  any  one  time  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
serving school  organization  and  instruction  in  other  cities." 

^  A  number  of  our  cities  now  pay  a  part  or  all  of  the  expenses  of  their 
superintendent,  in  addition  to  giving  him  leave  of  absence  for  six  weeks  on 
full  pay,  for  attendance  at  summer  sessions  of  the  larger  universities.  This 
is  a  good  investment  for  a  city  to  make;  the  gain  in  knowledge,  interest,  and 
professional  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  the  superintendent  more  than  com- 
pensates for  the  small  extra  outlay. 


166 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


and  the  State,  and  keeps  the  board  and  the  people  of  the 
community  informed  as  to  needs  and  conditions.  Under  a 
proper  form  of  organization,  as  shown  by  the  lines,  the 
board  and  its  committees  act  only  through  him,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  school  department  communicate  officially  with 
members  of  the  board  only  through  his  office.  ^ 

His  office  force  consists  of  a  good  business  and  office  clerk, 
and  a  stenographer.  The  clerk  looks  after  office  matters  in 
his  absence,  makes  purchases,  fills  requisitions,  checks  up 
bills,  distributes  books  and  supplies  to  the  schools,  attends 
to  most  of  the  routine  correspondence,  takes  charge  of  the 
minutes,  and  notifies  all  parties  concerned  of  the  official 
actions  of  the  board  of  education.  The  stenographer,  in  ad- 
dition to  handling  the  official  mail,  mimeographs  circulars, 
files  documents,  answers  the  telephone,  and  does  necessary 
messenger  service. 

With  his  school  principals  and  the  two  special  supervisors, 
the  superintendent  must  supervise  the  work  of  the  schools. 
In  a  city  system  of  fifty  to  seventy-five  teachers  this  will 
naturally  form  a  very  important  part  of  his  services,  and 
in  such  a  system  he  should  strive  to  become  an  expert  at 
such  work.   He  must  look  after  the  proper  education  and 


1  The  following  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  school  system  shown  in 
Figure  12:  — 


Employees 
1  superintendent  of  schools. 
1  supervisor  of  primary  work. 
1  supervisor  of  drawing, 

1  high-school  principal. 

4  elementary-school  principals. 
9  high-school  teachers. 
28  elementary-school  teachers. 

2  kindergarten  teachers. 

1  manual-training  teacher. 

1  cooking  teacher, 

1  ungraded-room  teacher. 

50 


Scope  of  system 

1  high  school. 

2  medium-sized  elementary  schools  with 

a  kindergarten  in  each. 
2  smaller  elementary  schools. 
1  manual-training  center. 
1  cooking-center,   in  one  of   the   larger 

buildings. 
1  ungraded   room,  in  one  of  the  larger 

buildings. 

Office  force 
1  office  and  business  clerk. 
1  attendance  officer. 
1  stenographer. 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION        167 

inspiration  of  his  principals  and  teachers,  the  coordination 
of  the  work  of  the  schools,  the  administration  of  the  course 
of  study,  the  educational  development  of  the  school  system. 


I  People  of  the  State 

represented  in  the  Legislature 


Jusiness 
Committee 
of  the  Board 


State  Superintendent  of. 
Public  Instruction 


[County  Superintendent 
of  Schools 


Educational 
Committee 
of  the  Board 


Fig.  12.    PLAN  OF  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZAllON  FOR  A  SMALL 
CITY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM,  AND  SHOWING  PROPER  RELATIONSHIPS 

This  plan  would  apply  to  a  city  school  system  emplopng 
from  about  40  to  about  100  teachers 


the  work  of  special  teachers,  and  the  work  of  the  attendance 
officer.  While  doing  this  he  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  other 
aspects  of  his  work  and  the  other  problems  of  his  schools. 
Expansion  as  the  city  grows.  As  the  city  supervised  grows 


168  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

in  size,  the  school  system  expands,  more  and  more  teachers 
are  employed,  and  new  schools  and  new  types  of  schools  are 
organized,  the  administrative  organization  must,  of  neces- 
sity, be  changed  and  expanded  to  enable  the  board  and  the 
superintendent  to  handle  properly  the  work  of  the  larger 
school  system.  Committee  action  should  now  decrease  in 
amount  and  in  importance,  the  dependence  on  executive 
officers  should  increase,  and  the  delegated  authority  of  the 
superintendent  and  of  the  heads  of  the  large  administrative 
departments  should  be  materially  increased.  With  the  in- 
crease of  the  educational  and  business  work,  executive  offi- 
cers should  replace  committees,  and  the  latter  should  tend 
to  disappear  altogether.  In  all  medium-sized  and  large  cities, 
standing  committees  of  the  board  of  education  should  be 
prohibited  by  law,  as  such  serve  chiefly  to  obstruct  the 
proper  work  of  the  board's  executive  officers.  All  that 
the  usual  standing  committees  now  do  could  be  done  better 
and  done  more  expeditiously  by  the  regularly  employed 
executive  officers  of  the  board.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in 
Figure  13  standing  committees  of  the  board  are  indicated 
as  having  but  a  doubtful  place  in  the  organization,  while  in 
Figure  14  they  are  not  to  be  found  at  all. 

The  business  and  office  clerk  will  gradually  evolve  into  a 
school-board  clerk  or  a  business  manager,  and  will  be  given 
oversight  now  not  only  of  all  business  and  clerical  matters 
previously  attended  to,  but  also  oversight  of  the  janitors, 
architects,  contractors,  engineers,  plumbers,  and  workmen 
of  various  types  employed  about  the  school  plant.  He  will 
also  keep  all  accounts  and  attend  to  all  financial  details  for 
the  school  district.  His  office  force  will  increase,  and  the 
superintendent  will  now  need  an  intelligent,  dependable 
stenographer  and  office  secretary  to  attend  to  his  mail,  see 
his  callers,  take  charge  of  his  office  during  his  absence,  and 
attend  to  many  of  the  details  of  his  work. 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION         169 

On  the  educational  side  the  number  of  special  supervisors 
will  increase,  the  attendance  department  will  become  better 
organized,  and  a  health  supervisor  and  a  school  nurse  or  two 
will  be  added  to  the  special  corps. ^  The  number  of  school 
buildings  will  increase,  and  some  of  the  principalships  will 
evolve  into  quite  responsible  positions.  Certain  special- 
type  schools,  such  as  a  day  school  for  the  oral  instruction  of 
the  deaf,  a  parental  school,  classes  for  over-age  and  back- 
ward children,  and  perhaps  a  vocational  day  or  evening 
school,  will  be  added.  Perhaps  a  central  intermediate  school 
will  be  organized,  to  cover  the  work  of  the  seventh,  eighth, 
and  ninth  grades,  and  organized  on  the  departmental  rather 
than  on  the  grade-room  plan. 

1  The  following  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  school  system  shown  in 
Figure  13:  — 


Scope  of  system 

1  superintendent  of  schools.  1  high  school. 

1  assistant  superintendent,  for  the  study  of  1  intermediate  school. 

/  work  and  product.   (Virtually  an  effi-  4  large  elementary  schools, 

ciency  expert.)  2  medium-sized  elementary  schools. 

1  supervisor  of  primary  work.  (Virtually  an  2  small  elementary  schools. 

assistant  superintendent  of  schools.)  8  kindergarten  classes. 

1  health  supervisor.  2  manual    training,    cooking,    and    sewing 

5  special  supervisors.  (Drawing,  music  and  buildings,  in  connection  with  the  inter- 

expression,    constructional     activities,  mediate  and  the  high  school, 

home-life  activities,  and  play  activities.)  6  ungraded  rooms,  one  in  connection  with 
1  high-school  principal.        ^  each  larger  elementary-school  building. 

1  intermediate-school  principal.  1  class  for  the  oral  instruction  of  the  deaf. 

6  elementary-school  principals,  who  do  not  1  parental  school. 

teach.  1  day  vocational  school. 

2  elementary-school  principals,  who  teach. 

25  high-school  teachers.  Office  force 

20  intermediate-school  teachers.  j  ^I^.j,  ^^^  business  manager. 

95  elementary-school  teachers.  g  attendance  officers. 

8  kmdergarten  teachers.  1  bookkeeper. 

4  manual-traimng  teachers.  3  stenographers  and  clerks. 

4  cooking  teachers.  1  ^^^^^^  (^^^i^g  ^  ^^^^  janitor). 

4  sewmg  teachers.  

2  school  nurses. 

4  playground  teachers. 

6  ungraded-room  teachers.  Architects    and     engineers   employed    as 

2  parental-school  teachers.  needed 

1  oral-deaf  teacher. 

6  vocational-school  teachers. 

200 


8 


170  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Proper  administrative  organization  for  the  larger  city. 
The  business  and  educational  organization  will  now  become 
more  complicated,  and  as  properly  carried  out  is  represented 
by  the  drawing  (Figure  13)  inserted  here.  As  before,  the 
lines  and  position  indicate  the  direction  of  authority,  and 
the  central  position  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  for  the 
city  will  again  be  apparent. 

A  man  of  larger  grasp  will  now  be  required.  The  old 
superintendent,  who  has  grown  up  with  the  system,  unless 
he  has  more  than  kept  pace  with  it,  may  need  to  be  super- 
seded by  some  one  better  able  to  handle  the  larger  educa- 
tional problems.  The  man  in  command  now  must  be  one 
who  can  quickly  sort  out  essentials  from  non-essentials,  and 
one  who  can  think  and  act  quickly  and  relatively  accurately. 
He  must  be  able  to  exercise  a  supervisory  oversight  over 
many  things,  without  getting  lost  in  the  details  of  any  one 
matter.  More  than  before  it  is  the  business  of  the  superin- 
tendent to  think  and  to  plan,  and,  even  more  than  before, 
must  he  know  what  ought  to  be  done  and  be  able  to  state 
clearly  and  convincingly  the  reasons  for  his  proposals. 

More  real  leadership  is  now  required  than  in  the  smaller 
school  system.  A  larger  vision,  too,  is  now  demanded. 
There  will  still  be  plenty  of  routine  service  to  be  looked  after, 
but,  to  a  degree,  routine  previously  handled  must  now  be 
passed  down  to  subordinates,  the  superintendent  merely 
exercising  supervisory  oversight  to  see  that  the  routine  is 
properly  looked  after,  while  he  applies  his  energy  and  best 
thinking  to  the  larger  problems  of  educational  leadership 
which  more  and  more  confront  him  as  the  community  grows. 

Guaranteed  powers.  Whether  the  school  system  is  small, 
as  in  a  city  of  5000  inhabitants,  employing  approximately 
40  teachers;  or  medium-sized,  as  in  a  city  of  20,000  inhabi- 
tants, employing  from  110  to  125  teachers;  or  a  still  larger 
city  of  40,000  population,  employing  from  225  to  250  teachers, 


andmg  committeeB 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION        171 

the  rights,  duties,  and  privileges  which  should  be  attached 
to  the  office  of  city  superintendent  of  schools  should  be 
approximately  the  same.  These  should  include  the  follow- 
ing:— 

1.  The  guaranteed  right  to  attend  any  meeting  of  the  board  of 
education  or  any  committee  thereof,  except  when  his  own 
tenure  or  salary  are  under  consideration,  with  the  right  to 
speak  on  any  question,  but  without  a  vote.  This  gives  the 
superintendent  a  legal  right  to  be  present  whenever  school 
matters  of  any  kind  are  being  considered,  and  the  legal  right 
to  be  heard.  His  good  judgment  must  now  guide  him  as  to 
how  much  and  how  often  to  speak,  remembering  that  it  is  very 
easy  to  talk  too  much,  and  that  a  superintendent  who  does  so 
will  soon  make  himself  obnoxious  and  defeat  his  own  ends. 

2.  The  board  should  be  primarily  a  legislative  body,  and  the 
superintendent  its  recognized  executive  officer.  The  board 
should  legislate,  and  the  superintendent  should  execute.  This 
means  that  the  board  should  act  through  him,  or  through 
others,  nominally  at  least,  under  his  oversight  and  control, 
and  not  independent  of  him.  To  the  end  that  this  be  the 
case,  such  a  division  of  functions  should  be  specified  in  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  board,  or  better  still  in  the  school 
laws  of  the  State. 

Of  course,  there  will  be  superintendents  who  are  failures 
as  executives,  and  among  such  the  mortaHty,  under  such 
a  law,  would  naturally  increase,  but  superintendents  who 
know  how  to  handle  executive  work  will  be  enabled  to  carry 
forward  their  executive  functions,  without  continually 
struggling  with  boards  and  board  members  to  obtain  or 
retain  what  should  be  the  superintendent's  natural  powers 
and  duties. 

3.  The  superintendent,  in  addition  to  being  the  chief  executive 
officer  of  the  board,  with  supervisory  oversight  of  all  depart- 
ments, should  also  be  the  recognized  head  of  the  educational 
department  of  the  school  system.  As  such,  he  should  be 
given  full  charge  of  the  making  and  changing  of  the  courses  of 
study,  of  the  supervision  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools,  the 


172  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

promotion  and  assignment  of  pupils,  and  of  the  selection  of 
books  and  apparatus  for  carrying  on  such  instruction,  the 
board  being  asked  to  approve  only  when  new  types  of  instruc- 
tion are  to  be  added,  new  expenditures  are  involved,  or  new 
contracts  need  to  be  signed.  In  no  case  should  the  board  take 
any  action  on  such  matters  except  on  the  prior  recommenda- 
tion of  the  superintendent  of  schools. 

4.  The  initiative  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  appointment, 
assignment,  transfer,  promotion,  suspension,  or  dismissal  of 
teachers,  principals,  or  special  supervisors  should  rest  with  the 
superintendent  of  schools,  the  board  approving  or  disapprov- 
ing of  his  recommendations,  but  without  the  power  of  sub- 
stituting other  names  or  initiating  new  appointments. 

5.  In  the  appointment,  assignment,  transfer,  or  dismissal  of 
janitors,  the  superintendent  should  have  a  similar  authority, 
acting,  in  the  larger  school  systems,  in  conjunction  with  the 
school  clerk  or  business  manager,  under  whose  supervision 
the  janitors,  in  certain  aspects  of  their  work,  may  be  in  partic- 
ular assigned. 

6.  In  the  matter  of  reports  required,  records  to  be  kept,  and 
blank  forms  to  be  used,  the  power  of  initiative  should  in  gen- 
eral rest  with  the  superintendent,  but  with  power  resting  with 
the  board  to  request  additional  information  as  to  the  work  of 
the  schools. 

7.  The  superintendent,  on  his  own  initiative,  should  be  given 
the  right  to  order  expenditures  for  the  schools,  up  to  a  certain 
limited  amount  in  any  calendar  month,  the  amount  varying 
with  the  size  of  the  system,  and  without  previous  specific 
authorization  by  the  board. 

The  reasons  for  these  guaranteed  powers  will  be  discussed 
in  subsequent  chapters. 

Educational  organization  in  the  large  city.  As  the  city 
school  system  increases  in  size  with  the  growth  of  the  city, 
coming  to  employ  three  or  four  hundred  or  more  teachers, 
the  need  for  a  further  expansion  and  differentiation  of  the 
educational  organization  will  arise,  with  the  result  that  a 
larger  and  a  more  highly  specialized  system  will  be  devel- 
oped. As  before,  the  superintendent  of  schools  should  re- 
main the  nominal  head  of  the  entire  organization,  exercising 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION        173 

supervisory  oversight  of  all  departments,  though  with  special 
control  of  the  educational  department. 

The  form  of  organization  for  a  large  city  school  system  is 
shown  by  Figure  14,  inserted  here.  The  need  for  still  larger 
grasp  and  insight  and  administrative  skill  will  be  apparent 
if  such  an  organization  is  to  be  properly  coordinated,  and 
effective  educational  work  secured  all  along  the  line.  Real 
educational  statesmanship  and  leadership  of  a  high  order 
are  now  necessary  qualities  for  the  superintendent  with 
such  an  educational  organization  to  direct. 

Central  position  of  the  educational  department.  In  all  of 
the  diagrams  showing  proper  relationships,  it  will  be  noticed, 
the  educational  department  has  been  given  the  central  posi« 
tion,  and  a  straight  line  leads  from  the  superintendent  of 
schools  direct  to  the  pupils  in  the  schools.  On  each  side  of 
the  educational  department  certain  officers  or  departments 
are  shown,  and  these  handle  certain  parts  of  the  city's  edu- 
cational business  and  are  related,  more  or  less  directly,  to 
the  educational  department. 

This  is  as  it  should  be.  The  educational  department  came 
first,  and  all  of  the  other  officers  and  departments  have  been 
created  since  for  the  one  purpose  of  enabling  the  educational 
department  to  render  a  larger  community  service.  The 
building  department,  the  business  department,  the  attend- 
ance department,  the  health  department,  the  library  depart- 
ment, and  any  other  department  which  may  be  created  exist 
primarily  to  aid  the  educational  department  in  fulfilling  bet- 
ter the  work  for  which  the  schools  were  established;  and  the 
one  important  reason  why  the  superintendent  of  schools,  in 
addition  to  being  indicated  as  the  executive  head  of  the 
educational  department,  is  also  given  general  oversight  and 
coordinating  power  over  all  of  the  other  departments  as  the 
executive  head  of  the  entire  school  system,  is  that  he  may 
preserve  this  relationship,  and  prevent  any  department  from 


174  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

aggrandizing  itself  at  the  expense  of  the  best  interests  of  the 
children  in  the  schools.  Buildings,  for  example,  are  neces- 
sary, and  so  are  supplies  and  equipment,  but  buildings  are 
erected  to  enable  teachers  to  teach  children  in  them,  and 
supplies  and  equipment  are  furnished  to  facilitate  the  work 
of  instruction.  In  planning  the  buildings  and  selecting  the 
supplies  and  equipment  the  needs  of  the  educational  de- 
partment must  be  paramount.  Both  building  and  supplies 
departments  exist  only  to  serve,  though  the  head  of  each  of 
these  occasionally  forgets  this  fact  and  seems  to  imagine  that 
the  educational  department  has  been  created  to  afford  work 
for  him. 

Executive  heads  of  departments.  The  city  superintend- 
ent of  schools,  it  will  also  be  seen  from  the  different  draw- 
ings showing  proper  relationships,  has  in  each  case  been 
given  general  coordinating  oversight  in  all  departments,  in 
addition  to  being  the  head  of  the  educational  department. 
He  is,  as  it  were,  the  prime  minister,  who  at  the  same  time 
holds  a  cabinet  portfolio.  This  primacy  is  essential  for 
effective  service  and  the  preservation  of  proper  official  rela- 
tionships. In  practice,  each  head  of  a  department  in  a  large 
and  well-organized  school  system  will  conduct  the  affairs  of 
his  department,  and  without  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
superintendent,  but  in  cases  of  friction  or  conflict  of  au- 
thority the  superintendent  should  be  the  coordinating  head. 
The  work  of  the  different  departments  so  overlap  that  this 
is  a  virtual  necessity,  and  in  cities  where  such  coordination 
does  not  exist  friction  and  conflict  oc  '  ^  time  to  time, 
or  almost  all  the  time,  with  the  ine\  "^at  the 

efficiency  of  the  schools  is  materially 

In  addition  to  the  guaranteed  powei    ji  the  superinteuu 
ents,  previously  enumerated,  each  head  of  a  department 
should  also  be  guaranteed  certain  powers  within  his  own 
department.  These  we  shall  indicate  when  we  consider  the 


i 

>  2' 


Fro.  15.     AN  INCORRECT  FORM  01   EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

ThiB  lorm  of  organization  waa  found  in  a  city  of  'J50,000  employing  approximately  llW''  \  «"  and  flupervisory  ofBcera.     The  heavV  linea  leading  to  the  School  Clerk  indicate 

the  preponderating  influence  of  this  ofBcial  in  school  f««»  '■    (Tom  the  Repurl  o,f  the  Porlland  Schoo,  Surreu) 


SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT  ORGANIZATION        175 

work  of  each  of  these  departments,  which  will  be  the  subject 
matter  of  the  subsequent  chapters  of  Part  II  of  this  volume. 
Faulty  educational  organization.  In  closing  this  chapter 
on  city  school  department  organization  we  wish  to  produce, 
for  purposes  of  discussion,  two  improper  forms  of  educational 
organization  existing  in  two  of  our  larger  American  cities. 
Under  the  form  of  educational  organization  shown  in  Fig. 
15  the  school  clerk,  if  at  all  capable  and  vigorous,  is  almost 
certain  to  become  the  head  of  the  school  system  and  to  dom- 
inate the  whole  situation.  Under  the  form  of  organization 
shown  in  Figure  16  the  superintendent  and  the  board  are 
likely  to  be  in  continual  conflict,  because,  with  the  popular- 
election  basis  of  tenure,  it  is  good  city  politics  for  the  super- 
intendent publicly  to  "  put  the  board  in  the  hole  "  as  often 
as  good  opportunities  offer.  Under  such  a  form  of  educational 
organization  the  teaching  force,  due  to  lack  of  leadership 
and  lack  of  centralized  authority,  is  likely  to  be  profession- 
ally unprogressive;  the  board  of  education,  not  being  able 
to  control  the  superintendent,  is  almost  certain  to  develop 
into  a  duplicate  and  conflicting  inexpert  board  of  superin- 
tendents; the  school  buildings  are  likely  to  be  constructed 
and  repaired  in  a  costly  and  an  unintelligent  manner  by  the 
board  of  public  works;  and  the  funds  for  the  conduct  of  the 
school  department  are  likely  to  represent  what  is  left  after 
other  city  patronage  departments  have  had  what  they  want. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  is  good  experience  as  a  principal  of  an  elementary  school  better 
preparation  for  city  superintendence  than  the  principalship  of  a  high 
school? 

2.  Why  is  a  school  system  in  which  the  superintendent  of  schools  is  only  a 
good  average  member  of  the  teaching  force  likely  to  be  an  unprogressive 
system? 

3.  Why  may  such  a  condition  please  certain  communities  better  than  to 
have  a  well-informed  man  in  the  position? 

List  up  the  different  one-sided  developments  which  a  superintendent  of 
schools  in  a  small  city  may  easily  come  to  represent,  and  classify  them 


176  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

in  the  order  of  their  danger  to  the  superintendent's  future  growth  and 
larger  usefulness. 

5.  In  cities  that  you  know,  how  far  does  the  superintendent  exercise  con- 
trol of  functions  by  law  given  to  the  board? 

6.  Why  may  a  superintendent,  who  was  a  good  superintendent  when  the 
city  was  small,  not  be  a  good  man  for  the  place  after  the  city  has  experi- 
enced a  very  rapid  increase  in  population? 

7.  Suppose  that  the  superintendent  of  schools  has  not  the  professional 
knowledge,  the  good  judgment,  or  the  force  of  character  which  would 
enable  him  to  use  the  "guaranteed  powers"  wisely;  what  should  a  board 
of  education  do  in  such  a  case? 

8.  Should  the  head  of  a  business  department  determine  the  kind  of  school 
supplies  to  be  purchased? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  List  up,  in  two  columns,  the  guaranteed  legal  powers  of  a  superintendent 
of  schools  and  the  legal  functions  of  a  board  of  education,  in  your  State. 

2.  Draw  up  a  set  of  school-board  rules  and  regulations  which  will  give  to 
the  superintendent  of  schools  all  of  the  "guaranteed  powers"  mentioned 
under  this  paragraph  heading. 

3.  Make  a  drawing,  similar  to  those  given  in  this  chapter,  to  show  the  form 
of  educational  organization  in  some  city  with  which  you  are  acquainted. 
If  the  form  of  organization  is  not  a  satisfactory  one,  make  a  second  draw- 
ing, showing  a  desirable  form  of  organization  for  the  city  to  adopt. 

4.  Reconstruct  the  educational  organization  shown  in  Figure  15,  by  mak- 
ing a  new  and  rearranged  drawing,  so  as  to  give  this  city  a  proper  educa- 
tional organization. 

5.  Similarly,  rearrange  Figure  16,  so  as  to  insure  a  proper  educational  organ- 
ization for  this  city. 

6.  Investigate  the  peculiar  form  of  educational  organization  now  in  use  at 
Schenectady,  New  York,  and  reduce  it  to  a  diagram  showing  relation- 
ships. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Chamberlain,  A.  F.  "The  Growth  of  Responsibility  and  Enlargement  of 
Power  of  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools."  Pubs.  Univ.  Cal.,  Edu- 
cation, vol.  Ill,  no.  4. 

Section  VI,  pp.  414-25,  covers  in  a  general  way  the  form  of  organization. 
Moore,  E.  C.  How  New  York  City  Administers  its  Schools.  World  Book  Co., 
Yonkers-on-Hudson,  N.  Y.,  1913. 

Chapters  VII  and  VIII  deal  with  board  organization,  and  the  necessity  for  having 
one  responsible  head. 

Portland,  Ore.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
44  pp.    Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  1915. 

Chapter  II  deals  with  the  administrative  organization  of  the  school  district,  and  the 
relationships  which  exist  and  those  which  should  exist. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT 

The  superintendent  as  a  department  head.  In  addition  to 
being  the  executive  head  of  the  whole  school  system  of  the 
city,  the  superintendent  should  be,  in  particular,  the  execu- 
tive head  of  the  educational  department  of  the  system. 
Such  is  his  proper  place  in  the  educational  organization,  and 
not  as  the  head  of  the  business  and  clerical  department  or  of 
the  school  buildings  and  repair  department.  The  work  of 
these  departments  he  must  necessarily  be  in  touch  with,  but 
if  these  are  the  only  departments  he  knows  how  to  manage 
and  direct  intimately  he  should  be  made  head  of  one  or  the 
other,  or  in  a  small  city  of  the  two  combined,  or  dropped  al- 
together, and  a  new  superintendent  of  schools  for  the  city 
should  be  obtained  to  head  the  educational  department. 
A  superintendent  of  schools  should  be  primarily  an  educa- 
tional leader,  and,  while  he  must  of  necessity  handle  many 
matters  in  many  different  fields,  he  should  in  particular 
stand  out  as  the  head  of  the  educational  department  of  the 
school  system. 

As  the  executive  head  of  the  whole  school  system  he  must 
oversee  and  coordinate  all  phases  of  the  work  of  the  school 
department,  and  must  discuss  many  questions  of  policy  and 
procedure  with  his  department  heads,  and  with  the  board 
and  its  committees.  Often  he  must  abide  by  the  decisions  of 
the  board,  even  though  such  do  not  coincide  with  his  views 
as  to  what  should  be  done.  As  executive  head  of  the  edu- 
cational department  of  the  school  system,  however,  he  oc- 
cupies a  somewhat  different  r61e.   Here  he  should  be  espe- 


178  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

cially  expert;  here,  after  all,  should  be  his  major  interest;  and 
here  he  should  be  able  to  work,  unimpeded  by  the  board  or 
its  committees.^  When  new  undertakings  are  to  be  begun, 
new  types  of  schools  are  to  be  established,  or  additional 
funds  are  needed,  the  board  will,  of  course,  need  to  be  con- 
sulted and  to  give  its  sanction,  but  in  the  detailed  work  of 
this  department,  and  especially  in  all  of  those  matters  which 
relate  to  courses  of  study  and  the  supervision  of  instruction, 
the  superintendent  should  be  allowed  to  work  without  inter- 
ference. In  almost  all  matters  his  judgment  as  to  what 
should  be  done,  and  how  it  should  be  done,  should  prevail. 
When  the  board  loses  confidence  in  his  judgment  in  such 
matters  it  should  secure  a  new  superintendent,  rather  than 
attempt  to  do  the  work  itself. 

He  gives  character  to  the  department.  The  educational 
department  proper,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  diagrams  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  includes  assistant  superintendents,  spe- 
cial supervisors,  principals,  regular  and  special  teachers,  and 
teachers  in  special-type  schools.  This  department  includes 
by  far  the  largest  number  of  employees  in  any  department, 
—  a  larger  number,  in  fact,  than  in  all  of  the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  school  system  combined.  It  is  the  central  de- 
partment in  the  school  system  —  the  department  for  the 
advancement  of  which  all  of  the  others  exist. 

1  "The  superintendent  ought  to  be  the  educational  adviser  of  the  board 
of  education,  and  his  counsel  ought  to  command  the  same  respect  on  their 
part  as  that  of  a  city  solicitor  on  a  question  of  law,  or  that  of  the  city  phy- 
sician on  a  question  of  sanitation  or  public  health.  He  ought  to  be  held 
strictly  responsible  for  his  advice,  just  as  they  are,  and  for  the  action  of  the 
board  based  upon  it.  He  and  not  the  school  board  ought  to  be  held  responsi- 
ble by  the  public  for  the  course  of  study  and  the  methods  of  teaching  in  the 
schools.  If  his  advice  and  judgment  are  found  to  be  untrustworthy,  the 
school  board,  instead  of  retaining  him  and  making  him  simply  their  clerk 
and  agent,  and  assuming  the  responsibility  themselves  which  properly  be- 
longs to  him  as  an  expert,  ought  to  dismiss  him  and  secure  a  person  whose 
judgment  they  can  trust."  (T.  M.  Balliett,  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  ii, 
p.  484.) 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  179 

It  is  primarily  the  task  of  the  superintendent  to  give  tone 
and  character  to  this  department.  His  view  must  cover  the 
school  system  as  a  whole,  and  its  many  relations  to  the  com- 
plex life  of  the  community  which  maintains  it.  He  must  keep 
thinking  of  what  the  schools  should  be  doing  for  each  boy 
and  girl  in  them,  and  how  best  this  may  be  done.  Out  of  his 
clearer  vision  as  to  purposes,  his  more  mature  judgment  as 
to  ways  and  means,  and  his  enthusiasm  as  to  what  it  is  pos- 
sible to  do,  he  should  give  a  definite  trend  to  the  thinking  of 
every  one,  from  assistant  superintendent  to  grade  teacher, 
who  has  to  do  with  the  instruction  of  children  in  the  schools. 
The  attitude  he  takes  toward  the  school  problems,  his  pro- 
fessional interest,  his  conception  as  to  the  nature  and  pur- 
pose of  school  supervision,  his  energy  or  lack  of  it,  his  friend- 
liness and  frankness,  and  his  ability  to  lead  professionally 
and  to  ofier  helpful  and  constructive  criticism,  will  all  be 
important  elements  in  developing  a  professional  esprit  de 
corps  in  all  those  below  him  who  work  on  the  problem  of 
instruction.  It  is  as  a  leader  of  thought  and  an  inspirer  of 
high  professional  ideals  that  he  can  render  his  largest  serv- 
ice. By  being  such  he  transforms  his  principals  and  super- 
visors from  routine  workers  and  inspectors  into  professional 
leaders,  and  his  teachers  from  slaves  of  a  system  and  a 
course  of  study  into  those  whose  labors  are  directed  by  a 
clear  vision  and  a  large  purpose. 

Sensitiveness  of  teachers  to  leadership.  So  sensitive  is 
a  body  of  teachers  to  the  influence  of  intelligent  and  con- 
structive leadership  that  a  superintendent  who  knows  his 
community  and  thinks  in  terms  of  its  needs,  who  knows  ed- 
ucational theory  and  can  apply  it  in  practice,  who  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  work  of  the  educational  department,  who 
can  impart  vision  to  and  instil  an  ambition  to  excel  in  his 
supervisors  and  principals,  and  who  can  approach  teachers 
in  a  friendly  and  a  helpful  spirit,  can  do  almost  anything 


180  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

within  reason  in  developing  an  enthusiasm  for  service  in  a 
teaching  force  in  any  city  of  small  or  moderate  size.  ^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  superintendent  who  is  essentially 
an  office  superintendent,  who  from  his  office  chair  promul- 
gates and  enforces  a  uniformity  throughout  the  school  sys- 
tem, who  inspects  rather  than  supervises,  and  who  controls 
by  rules  and  regulations  rather  than  by  developing  initiative 
and  strength  on  the  part  of  those  under  him,  will  in  time  de- 
velop a  school  system  so  uniform  that  progress  will  become 
difficult,  a  supervisory  force  which  lacks  initiative  and  keeps 
close  to  old  and  well-established  paths,  and  a  teaching  force 
wanting  in  personal  strength  and  professional  enthusiasm. 
One  type  of  superintendent  produces  a  live  school  system; 
the  other  a  dead  one.  Regulations  "  from  the  office  "  and  the 
enforcement  of  the  letter  of  the  law  kill;  it  is  the  spirit  and 
the  personal  touch  which  give  life. 

Chara'bteristics  of  a  good  supervisory  organization.  A 
good  supervisory  organization  is  almost  always  a  product  of 
intelligent  and  helpful  leadership  at  the  top.  Under  such,  a 
positive  premium  is  placed  on  the  development  of  those  per- 
sonal and  professional  qualities,  on  the  part  of  all  subordi- 
nates down  the  line,  which  serve  to  give  individual  strength 
and  character  to  and  to  develop  self-reliance  in  a  teaching 
force.  A  judicious  use  of  personal  liberty  in  action  is  en- 
couraged, and  individual  thinking  and  personal  growth  are 
stimulated  by  the  placing  of  responsibility  and  by  the  en- 
couragement of  individual  initiative.  A  premium  is  placed 
on  personal  efficiency,  and  on  being  and  keeping  better  than 
the  average  of  the  mass.  The  adaptation  of  school  work  to 
needs  and  to  capacity,  intelligent  departure  from  the  ordi- 
nary procedure,  and  the  substitution  of  thought  and  in- 

^  The  larger  a  city  becomes  the  harder,  of  course,  it  is  for  a  superintend- 
ent to  do  this,  and  the  more  he  must  depend  upon  subordinates.  In  a  large 
city  a  superintendent  tends  to  be  removed  from  personal  touch  with  his 
teachers  and  personal  contact  with  their  problems. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  181 

telligence  for  mechanical  routine  are  not  only  permitted,  but 
distinctly  approved  and  rewarded.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
man  or  woman  who  merely  drifts  along,  doing  little  think- 
ing, handling  details  in  a  typical  routine  manner,  taking  few 
chances,  doing  only  what  is  required,  and  fearful  of  the  envy 
of  associates  or  the  criticism  of  superiors,  is  made  to  feel 
supervisory  disapproval  and  a  pressure  to  improve  and  to 
keep  professionally  alive. 

Responsibility  of  all  for  successful  work.  Every  higher 
supervisory  officer,  too,  should  be  made  to  feel  that  he  (or 
she)  is  a  part  of  a  live  directive  organization,  with  a  mission 
for  helpful  and  constructive  service,  and  in  large  part  re- 
sponsible for  the  proper  carrying-out  of  the  common  edu- 
cational policy  of  the  superintendent  and  themselves.  Every 
principal,  too,  should  be  made  to  understand  clearly  that  he 
must  keep  alive  professionally  and  awake  and  busy,  and  that 
he  is  not  only  directly  responsible  for  the  success  of  the  ad- 
ministrative policy  in  his  particular  school,  but  that  he  is 
also  in  part  responsible  for  the  general  success  of  such  policy 
throughout  the  whole  educational  organization  as  well.  Any 
attempt  at  the  monopolization  of  success,  any  unwillingness 
to  share  ideas  with  others,  or  any  evidence  of  selfishness  in 
permitting  other  schools  to  take  advantage  of  his  best  con- 
tributions, should  be  frowned  upon,  and  the  man  should  be 
made  to  feel  the  importance  of  the  common  cause  by  impart- 
ing to  him  a  larger  ideal  of  professional  service.  In  the  work- 
ing-out of  special  room-problems,  every  teacher,  also,  should 
be  made  to  feel  that  her  individuality  is  appealed  to.  Should 
her  plans  not  be  approved  by  the  principal,  who  ought  to 
be  prominent  in  such  stimulation  of  individual  initiative,  it 
should  be  done  in  such  a  manner  as  will  encourage  rather 
than  discourage  further  efforts  in  this  direction. 

A  weak  supervisory  organization.  On  the  other  hand,  that 
is  a  weak  supervisory  organization  where  all  is  mechanically 


182  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

laid  out;  where  the  supervisor's  chief  duty  is  not  to  supervise 
but  to  see  that  the  work  is  being  carried  out  as  directed; 
where  principals  are  clerks  and  statisticians,  rather  than 
professional  leaders;  and  where  teachers  are  so  discouraged 
from  any  attempts  at  individuality  by  those  above  them  in 
authority  that  they  come  to  feel  that  to  lift  a  head  above  the 
average  of  the  mass  is  only  to  display  a  target  for  those 
above  to  hit.  No  surer  recipe  could  be  given  for  killing  pro- 
fessional interest  and  enthusiasm,  for  changing  live  teachers 
into  dead  ones,  or  for  driving  teachers  together  into  unions 
to  pry  up  wages,  shorten  the  hours  of  labor,  and  protect  one 
another  from  the  criticism  of  supervisory  officers  and  of  the 
board  of  education. 

Too  much  activity  on  the  part  of  the  school  board  or  its 
committees  in  matters  which  it  should  not  attempt  to 
handle;  too  little  responsibility  for  results  placed  with  the 
superintendent,  and  placed  by  him  in  turn  with  his  subor- 
dinates; an  office-chair  superintendent,  or  a  superintendent 
whose  chief  interest  is  in  some  other  branch  of  the  service 
than  the  educational;  a  weak  but  well-meaning  superintend- 
ent, who  lacks  technical  preparation  and  any  guiding  edu- 
cational philosophy  for  the  conduct  of  the  schools;  a  strong 
and  vigorous  superintendent,  but  who  lacks  the  same  pro- 
fessional preparation  and  philosophy,  and  who  rules  with  so 
strong  a  hand  that  no  one  under  him  is  allowed  much  liberty 
in  thought  or  action;  a  superintendent  whose  conception  of 
educational  administration  is  that  of  clockwork,  machinery, 
inspections,  and  uniform  output,  and  who  runs  the  educa- 
tional department  much  as  he  would  run  a  factory;  —  any 
one  of  these  conditions  will  not  only  fail  to  develop  strength 
and  individuality  on  the  part  of  those  who  do  the  real  work 
of  the  schools,  but  will  crush  out  what  of  these  qualities  the 
workers  may  possess. 

Just  as  a  strong  and  capable  parent,  by  deciding  every- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  18S 

thing  for  a  child,  and  directing  all  of  his  important  actions, 
may  crush  his  individuality  and  initiative  and  leave  him 
weak-willed,  so  over-direction  by  supervisory  officers  may 
produce  the  same  result  in  a  teaching  force.  The  teachers 
become  dependent  upon  authority,  want  everything  which 
they  are  to  do  definitely  laid  out,  and  in  time  become  me- 
chanical workers  devoid  of  all  professional  interest  and  en- 
thusiasm. On  the  other  hand,  just  as  a  good  teacher  tries, 
as  rapidly  as  possible,  to  make  himself  unnecessary  to  the 
pupil  by  training  him  to  think  and  act  for  himself,  and  by 
showing  him  where  and  how  to  get  information  and  how  to 
secure  results,  so  a  good  supervisory  organization  tries  to 
make  itself  unnecessary,  in  many  matters,  by  training 
teachers  to  act  independently  and  to  think  for  themselves. 

Personnel  of  the  supervisory  organization.  In  a  small  city, 
such,  for  example,  as  is  provided  for  in  the  educational 
organization  shown  in  Figure  12,  the  organization  will  of 
necessity  be  quite  simple,  and  the  large  proportion  of  the 
superintendent's  time  and  thinking  must  of  necessity  be 
given  to  the  work  of  the  educational  department.  He  and 
his  principals  must  represent  the  supervisory  organization, 
and  together  must  carry  out  the  community  educational 
policy.  At  most,  such  a  superintendent  can  hope  to  have 
only  a  few  special  supervisors,  and  these  perhaps  for  only 
part  time.  The  salaries,  probably,  will  be  quite  moderate, 
and  the  character  of  the  principals  and  supervisors  only 
mediocre,  so  far  as  training,  experience,  and  educational  in- 
sight are  concerned.  Such  a  situation  demands  that  the 
superintendent  furnish  most  of  the  vision  and  inspiration 
necessary  to  lead  to  effective  work.  In  a  sense  he  must  con- 
duct a  normal  school,  with  his  supervisors,  principals,  and 
teachers  as  the  students,  showing  them  what  is  to  be  done, 
why  it  should  be  done,  and  how  best  to  do  it. 

In  a  medium-sized  city,  such  as  is  provided  for  in  the 


184.  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

educational  organization  shown  in  Figure  13,  a  larger  and 
presumably  a  better  supervisory  corps  will  be  available.  A 
woman  assistant  superintendent  for  primary  work,  another 
assistant  who  can  help  in  directing  the  administration  of  the 
courses  of  instruction  and  in  testing  results,  a  half-dozen 
special  supervisors,  and  a  number  of  presumably  better- 
trained  school  principals,  will  now  constitute  the  supervisory 
corps. 

In  a  still  larger  city,  such  as  is  provided  for  in  the  edu- 
cational organization  shown  in  Figure  14,  that  is  a  city  of 
80,000  or  90,000  inhabitants  or  upwards,  the  staff  would 
consist  of  one  or  more  assistant  superintendents,  a  number 
of  supervisors  of  special  subjects,  and  a  still  larger  corps  of 
presumably  still  better-trained  and  more-experienced  school 
principals,  now  supervising  a  number  of  different  types  of 
schools.  To  coordinate,  direct,  and  keep  this  staff  up  to  his 
own  high  conceptions  for  the  educational  service,  and  through 
them  to  reach  down  to  the  children  for  whom  the  schools 
after  all  exist,  is  the  peculiar  task  and  the  large  opportunity 
of  the  superintendent  of  schools  as  the  executive  head  of  the 
educational  department. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  each 
main  group  of  such  a  supervisory  organization. 

Assistant  superintendent  and  supervisor.  The  assist- 
ant superintendent,  except  in  a  somewhat  rudimentary 
form,  will  not  exist  except  in  the  larger  cities,  —  cities  from 
40,000  to  50,000  and  more.  Special  supervisors  exist  in  most 
of  the  smaller  cities  and  often,  in  their  duties,  shade  into 
assistant  superintendents.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
supervisors  of  primary  and  upper-grade  work. 

These  officers  constitute  the  superintendent's  cabinet  for 
the  administration. of  the  department  of  education,  and  the 
character  of  this  cabinet  is  of  fundamental  importance  to 
him.    Upon  their  educational  insight,  largeness  of  vision, 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  185 

ability  in  administration,  discretion,  tact,  personal  loyalty, 
and  frankness  in  cabinet  discussions  must  depend,  to  a  large 
degree,  his  success  or  failure  in  the  administration  of  the 
schools.  They  are  not  merely  deputy  administrators,  but 
in  a  special  sense  they  are  his  counselors  and  advisers,  and 
the  representatives  of  the  superintendent  and  his  educational 
policy  before  the  teachers  and  the  public.  They  act  through 
his  authority  and  in  his  name,  and  they  must  be  able  and 
willing  to  assume  their  proper  share  of  the  responsibility  for 
the  successful  administration  of  the  schools. 

Cabinet  solidarity.  This  educational  cabinet,  too,  must 
be  a  constructive  cabinet,  one  which  will  discuss  plans  freely 
and  frankly  with  the  superintendent,  be  discreet  enough  not 
to  talk  outside  about  matters  still  under  consideration,  and 
able  to  carry  into  realization  plans  once  decided  upon.  This 
calls  for  a  body  of  men  and  women  who  can  develop  cabinet 
solidarity,  who  have  sufficient  insight  and  training  to  sense 
the  purpose  of  what  is  proposed,  sufficient  enthusiasm  for 
an  ideal  to  enable  them  to  enter  fully  into  the  plans  and 
policy  and  ideals  of  a  superintendent,  and  that  personal 
force  which  will  enable  them  to  carry  to  the  teachers  in  the 
service  that  fire  and  enthusiasm  which  carries  plans  into 
realities  and  unites  a  teaching  force  behind  the  purposes  of 
the  system. 

Such  a  cabinet  is  of  large  service  in  guiding  the  system, 
sensing  the  feeling  of  the  teaching  staff  or  of  the  community, 
removing  misunderstandings,  and  averting  storms.  Any 
system  of  educational  administration  that  is  worth  much 
will  tend  to  outrun  the  understanding  of  the  community,  and 
oft  times  also  that  of  the  teaching  force.  Misunderstandings, 
personal  enmity,  and  political  attack  must  be  expected  to 
appear  from  time  to  time.  Most  often  such  troubles  are  due 
to  a  simple  lack  of  understanding  of  what  is  proposed,  but 
sometimes  they  arise  from  the  unwillingness  of  certain 


186  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

teachers  to  work,  the  desire  of  some  politically  inclined  prin- 
cipal "  to  put  the  superintendent  in  wrong  "  with  the  com- 
munity, or  the  pure  charlatanism  of  some  editor  or  politician 
in  the  community.  Progress  calls  for  continuous  education, 
and,  while  the  attacks  may  be  exasperating,  explanation  of 
purposes  to  teachers,  and  the  continuous  education  of  the 
public  to  understand  what  the  schools  are  trying  to  do,  are 
among  the  surest  means  for  warding  off  or  minimizing  the 
effect  of  such  attacks.  In  sensing  and  reporting  the  feeling 
of  the  teaching  staff,  and  in  explaining  plans  both  before 
teachers  and  the  community,  the  members  of  the  superin- 
tendent's cabinet  have  an  important  part  to  play.  The  man 
or  woman  who  lies  down  in  the  harness  and  refuses  to  pull 
at  such  moments  is  not  worthy  of  a  place  in  a  supervisory 
corps. 

The  personal  equation.  The  importance  of  proper  selec- 
tions for  such  positions  can  hardly  be  overestimated,  and  is 
seldom  appreciated  by  boards  of  education.  The  individual 
equation  is  a  very  important  element  here.  Men  or  women 
who  will  not  or  cannot  cooperate,  who  lack  personality  and 
enthusiasm,  who  cannot  bear  responsibility  easily  and  well, 
or  who  do  not  have  broad  views  as  to  educational  purposes 
or  processes,  should  neither  be  selected  nor  retained  in  such 
positions.  The  real  basis  of  the  efficiency  of  the  supervisor 
lies,  after  all,  in  the  largeness  of  his  conception  of  the  func- 
tion of  public  education  in  a  democratic  society;  in  the  ideals 
he  has  for  his  part  in  the  work;  in  his  judgment  of  values  in 
dealing  with  teachers;  in  his  knowledge  of  the  community 
need  for  what  he  is  supervising;  in  his  good  common  sense 
and  practical  ability,  as  shown  in  his  dealings  with  situa- 
tions and  people;  in  his  courtesy,  fairness,  and  gentlemanly 
ways;  and  in  his  ability  to  impart  to  others  his  own  high 
ideals  as  to  work  and  his  own  enthusiasm  for  helpful  service. 
A  superintendent,  though,  if  he  is  the  type  of  a  superin- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  187 

tendent  he  should  be,  can  hardly  expect  his  associates  to  see 
things  at  first  from  quite  as  large  or  as  mature  a  point  of  view 
as  he  does.  It  must  then  be  one  of  his  important  functions  to 
think  out  and  to  unfold  his  ideas  and  plans  to  them;  to  stim- 
ulate their  thinking  on  and  frank  criticism  of  them;  and  to 
awaken  in  them  something  of  his  larger  conception  as  to 
educational  service.  A  superintendent  who  can  measure  up 
to  such  a  standard,  and  who  can  extend  such  helpful  lead- 
ership to  those  associated  with  him,  can  in  time  develop  a 
strong  and  forceful  administrative  corps  and  a  good  sup- 
porting body  of  teachers,  because  under  such  leadership  all 
those  who  are  useful  members  of  the  organization  come  to 
feel  that  they  are  working  toward  reasonable  and  attainable 
goals. 

Relations  of  superintendent  and  assistant.  An  assistant 
superintendent  bears  a  peculiarly  confidential  relation  to  a 
superintendent  of  schools.  A  primary  supervisor  in  a  small 
school  system  occupies  much  the  same  position  to  the  super- 
intendent. Each  must  be  the  superintendent's  "  right-hand 
man." 

As  such  an  assistant's  time  is  given  more  to  schoolroom 
visitation  than  the  superintendent's  can  be,  he  comes  to  be 
in  closer  touch  with  the  teachers,  and  to  have  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  whole  situation.  His  opinion  on  many  matters 
can  be  of  much  value  to  his  superior.  Seeing  teachers  in  all 
parts  of  the  school  system,  he  forms  a  much  truer  estimate  of 
their  worth  and  effectiveness  than  do  school  principals,  and 
an  important  part  of  his  work  should  be  the  discovery  of 
talent  and  capacity  and  the  advising  of  the  superintend- 
ent as  to  the  placing  of  such  qualities  so  as  to  result  in  the 
greatest  advantage  to  the  school  system.^ 

1  "His  time  is  spent  in  the  schoolrooms,  —  observing,  listening,  judg- 
ing, encouraging,  praising,  suggesting,  correcting.  Using  data  thus  gained, 
he  should  be  ready  to  consult  with  the  superintendent  at  any  time,  and  to 


188  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

He  should  be  able  to  sense  the  superintendent's  policy  and 
to  adapt  and  elaborate  it  as  special  needs  may  require,  and 
without  continually  bothering  the  superintendent  for  in- 
structions as  to  details.  In  particular  he  should  strive  to 
economize  the  superintendent's  time  by  being  willing  to  take 
a  temporary  assignment  of  a  part  of  his  responsibility  and 
authority;  by  directing  him  as  to  where  he  can  most  quickly 
see  the  best  in  instruction  or  the  particular  needs  of  the 
schools;  by  giving  him  notes  as  to  conditions,  progress,  or 
needs  for  use  in  teachers'  or  principals'  meetings;  and  by  not 
taking  too  much  of  his  time  himself.  To  be  ready  for  a  con- 
ference when  a  conference  is  desired,  to  be  able  to  talk  to  the 
point  and  not  too  long,  and  to  know  when  to  leave,  are  valu- 
able characteristics  in  one  who  has  to  deal  with  a  busy  man. 
He  must  also  be  able  and  willing  to  draw  conclusions,  to 
state  his  evidence,  to  shoulder  responsibility,  and,  if  occasion 
demands,  to  stand  behind  his  guns.^  Such  a  relationship 
calls  for  a  degree  of  intelligence,  courage,  loyalty,  and  savoir- 
faire  which  is  not  especially  abundant  in  this  world. 

The  special  supervisors.  In  by  far  the  large  majority  of 
our  cities,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  cabinet  organization 
will  be  very  small  and  very  simple.  A  few  special  supervisors 
for  special  branches  of  instruction,  with  perhaps  a  primary 

report  skillful  teachers  who  deserve  recognition  and  promotion;  misplaced 
teachers  who  should  be  transferred  to  other  grades  or  other  sections  of  the 
city;  incompetent  teachers,  with  a  statement  of  their  specific  defects;  crying 
evils  which  should  be  rectified  as  soon  as  discovered;  questionable  practices 
which  need  to  be  considered  and  modified;  special  courses  which  merit  ex- 
tension; sources  of  strength  and  weakness  in  the  schools  as  a  whole."  (Alice 
E.  Reynolds,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1904, 
p.  265.) 

1  "The  all  important  attribute  of  an  assistant  in  his  relation  to  tb 
superintendent  is  an  absolutely  candid  frankness.  The  man  who  dehven 
an  ambiguous  opinion,  who  hesitates  to  express  a  conviction,  or  who  dis- 
likes to  be  quoted  when  an  issue  is  at  stake,  will  prove  a  poor  sailing  mate 
in  rough  weather."  (Alice  E.  Reynolds,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Edu- 
cation Association,  1904,  p.  266.) 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  189 

supervisor  added  in  the  medium-sized  cities,  will  constitute 
the  usual  supervisory  staff.  In  all  of  the  smaller  cities,  how- 
ever, the  school  principals  can  and  should  be  included  as  a 
part  of  the  cabinet  group  for  the  consideration  of  plans  and 
procedure. 

It  will  be  well,  in  any  case,  for  the  special  supervisors, 
—  penmanship,  drawing,  music,  cooking,  sewing,  man- 
ual-training, school-gardening,  playgrounds,  —  if  they  are 
thrown  into  somewhat  close  contact  with  the  principals  and 
the  primary  supervisor.  One  of  the  important  matters  which 
superintendents  of  schools  should  look  after,  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  educational  department,  is  that  of  prevent- 
ing a  narrow  specialization  in  the  work  of  his  special  super- 
visors. In  a  twentieth-century  American  school  system  it 
is  important  that  a  supervisor's  view  as  to  his  own  respon- 
sibility be  broad.  The  mere  specialist,  who  thinks  of  little 
else  than  proficiency  in  his  own  special  subject  of  instruc- 
tion, is  of  relatively  little  worth.  His  enthusiasm  for  his  own 
subject  is  of  course  valuable,  but  if  it  serves  to  obscure  his 
vision  of  the  larger  interests  of  the  school  system  as  a  whole 
it  is  not  a  healthful  enthusiasm.  A  superintendent  should 
see  that  his  specialists,  while  encouraged  to  do  good  work 
in  their  respective  lines,  nevertheless  keep  their  subjects  sub- 
servient to  the  larger  purposes  which  the  schools  as  a  whole 
are  attempting  to  carry  forward.  This  breadth  of  view,  in 
the  smaller  city  organizations,  he  must  usually  develop  in 
them.  The  instruction  in  each  special  subject  should  con- 
tribute something  toward  enabling  boys  and  girls  to  fill 
efficiently  the  spheres  of  life  possible  for  them,  as  well  as 
impart  mere  technical  and  measurable  ability  in  subject 
matter.^ 

^  "It  is  the  business  of  a  general  superintendent  of  schools  jealously  to 
defend  a  general  liberal  education  for  children  against  the  inevitable  at- 
tacks of  special  supervisors,  who  so  naturally  try  to  monopolize  most  of 


190  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

The  school  principals.  Whatever  other  supervisory  oflS- 
cers  may  or  may  not  exist  for  the  purpose  of  coordinating 
and  improving  the  administration  of  a  school  system,  the 
unit  of  supervision  is  naturally  the  individual  school,^  and 
the  principals  of  the  schools  become  the  instruments  through 
which  such  supervisory  control  is  exercised. 

We  are  not  likely  to  overestimate  the  importance  of  the 
oflSce  of  school  principal.  As  the  superintendent  of  schools 
gives  tone  and  character  to  the  whole  school  system,  so  the 
school  principal  gives  tone  and  character  to  the  school  imder 
his  control.  "As  is  the  principal,  so  is  the  school,"  is  per- 
haps a  truer  statement  than  the  similar  one  referring  to  the 
teacher.  In  the  administration  of  a  school  system  the  office 
of  school  principal  should  be  magnified.  ^  Whatever  can  be 
done  to  add  strength  and  dignity  and  responsibility  to  the 

the  general  teachers'  time  and  energy  in  teaching  and  worrying  about  their 
special  subjects.  If  he  expects  special  supervisors  to  be  strong  in  their 
special  fields,  he  must  be  equally  so  in  the  general  field."  (M.  C.  Potter,  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  p.  297.) 

^  In  a  few  cities,  notably  Indianapolis  and  Baltimore,  a  group  system  for 
principalships  is  in  use.  Under  this  plan,  one  central  school  containing  the 
upper  grades,  and  sometimes  the  lower  as  well,  has  three  or  four  surround- 
ing primary  schools,  containing  only  the  lower  grades,  attached  to  the 
central  school  for  purposes  of  supervision.  The  four  or  five  schools  thus 
form  a  group,  often  designated  by  a  letter,  and  the  sixty  to  seventy-five 
teachers  are  under  a  supervisory  principal,  who  in  consequence  partakes 
a  little  of  the  nature  of  an  assistant  superintendent.  A  good  description  of 
such  a  plan  may  be  found  in  the  Report  of  the  Commission  appointed  to  study 
the  public  schools  of  Baltimore,  pp.  49-53. 

2  "I  would  make  the  position  of  school  principal  one  place  of  fixed  and 
definite  responsibility,  and  I  would  magnify  and  dignify  that  position  and 
oflBce.  I  would  have  him  feel  the  responsibility  of  the  place  he  occupies. 
I  would  do  my  work  with  his  school  through  him.  I  would  have  every- 
thing pertaining  to  his  school  pass  through  his  hands,  both  to  and  from. 
Questions  and  complaints,  whether  of  parents,  teachers,  or  pupils,  should 
be  answered,  adjusted,  and  settled  either  by  him  or  in  his  presence.  I 
would  have  all  parties,  however,  and  particularly  the  principal,  understand 
that  an  appeal  from  all  decisions  was  always  in  order,  provided  the  prin- 
cipal be  first  served  with  notice  of  such  appeal."  (A.  B.  Blodgett,  in  Pra" 
ceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1903,  p.  226.) 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  191 

office  should  be  done,  with  the  view  to  making  each  principal 
feel  that  his  work  is  large  and  important,  and  that  he  must 
keep  constantly  growing  if  he  is  to  continue  to  measure  up 
to  the  demands  of  the  position.^ 

The  knowledge,  insight,  skill,  and  qualities  for  helpful 
leadership  of  the  principal  of  the  school  practically  de- 
termine the  ideals  and  standards  of  achievements  of  both 
teachers  and  pupils  within  the  school.  The  best  of  super- 
visor^'' organization  cannot  make  a  strong  school  where  the 
principal  is  weak  and  inefficient,  while  a  strong  and  capable 
principal  can  develop  a  strong  school  even  in  cities  where 
the  general  supervisory  organization  is  notoriously  weak 
and  ineffective  and  the  professional  interest  of  the  teachers 
notoriously  low.  The  mere  fact  that  helpful  supervision  is 
so  predominantly  personal  in  its  nature  and  methods  gives 
to  the  office  of  school  principal  a  large  potential  impor- 
tance. ^ 

The  term  "potential  importance"  is  used  advisedly,  be- 
cause, taken  generally  over  the  United  States,  perhaps  the 
weakest  place  in  our  city  organization  and  administration 
to-day  is  found  in  the  principalship  of  our  elementary 
schools.  Few  who  hold  such  positions  have  had  any  training 
for  the  work,  and  many  have  come  to  their  position  without 
any  special  fitness  for  the  service.  Many  principals  give 
their  time  almost  entirely  to  administrative  duties  and  do 
little  supervisory  work,  though  the  latter  ought  to  be  their 
most  important  function.  Of  those  who  do  supervisory 
work,  many  fail  to  make  their  supervision  helpfully  con- 
structive to  the  teachers  supervised. 

Often  the  principals  are  not  wholly,  or  even  largely  to 

^  In  the  figures  given  in  the  preceding  chapter  (Figs.  11-13)  note  how 
the  hnes  of  authority  converge  to  and  radiate  from  the  principal. 

^  The  second  book  of  this  series  on  school  administration  is  devoted  en- 
tirely to  the  work  of  a  principal  in  the  administration  of  a  school,  and  sets 
forth  much  more  in  detail  the  importance  of  this  office. 


192  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

blame  for  such  a  condition.  Too  often  the  principal  is  given 
almost  no  authority  to  vary  anything,  or  to  depart  in  any 
way  from  the  rigid  uniformity  prescribed  for  all  from  above. 
Under  such  conditions  the  supervision  easily  degenerates 
into  inspection,  and  the  principal  stands  in  the  school,  not 
as  the  helpful  leader  and  inspirer  of  his  teachers,  but  as  the 
representative  of  a  system  imposed  upon  all  by  those  in 
authority  above.  He  keeps  the  records,  times  the  teachers, 
manages  the  fire  drills,  carries  the  keys  to  the  supply-room, 
and  hands  out  the  chalk  to  the  teachers.  Even  good  prin- 
cipals gradually  lose  their  energy  and  their  capacity  for 
usefulness  under  such  an  administrative  organization. ^ 

Increasing  their  effectiveness.  It  should  be  one  of  the 
purposes  of  a  good  supervisory  organization  to  break  up 
such  a  condition.  The  superintendent  in  almost  any  Ameri- 
can school  system  probably  will  need  to  spend  much  time 
and  effort  on  the  professional  education  of  his  principals.  It 
is  important  that  he  do  this.  He  must  build  up  in  them 
good  educational  conceptions,  give  them  something  of  his 
own  vision  and  insight,  develop  in  them  ideals  and  stand- 
ards for  work,  and  awaken  a  desire  on  their  part  to  excel. 
This  will  involve  the  breaking  up  of  rigidity  and  uniformity 
in  the  school  system,  the  placing  of  responsibility  with  them 
for  results  rather  than  the  following  of  a  uniform  plan,  the 
development  among  the  principals  of  a  guiding  philosophy 
and  a  theory  of  supervision,  and  the  weeding  out  of  those 
who  will  not  devote  themselves  to  a  serious  study  of  the 
problems  which  concern  their  work  and  their  school. 

At  the  principals'  meetings,  which  should  be  relatively 
frequent,  the  general  policy  should  be  outlined  in  a  series  of 
straightforward  and  candid  talks.  The  best  results  in  the 
schools  of  his  own  or  of  other  school  systems  should  be  pre- 

^  See  the  Portland  School  Survey,  chap,  in,  and  chap,  viii,  subdiv.  6,  for  a 
good  illustration  of  the  deadening  effects  of  such  a  system. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  193 

sented.  The  difference  between  oflBce-chair  administration 
and  clerical  perfection  on  the  one  hand,  and  helpful  and 
constructive  supervision  on  the  other,  should  be  clearly  set 
forth.  The  means  by  which  administrative  efficiency  is  at- 
tained should  be  presented,  and  common  defects  in  schoo/ 
administration  and  supervision  pointed  out.^  The  more  ex- 
perienced  and  sagacious  of  the  principals  should  be  asked  to 
explain  their  methods  and  plans  of  work,  that  the  young, 
cranky,  and  unwise  ones  may  be  benefited  by  such  a  pre- 
sentation. Ideals  and  standards  for  work  should  be  formu- 
lated, and  ways  and  means  of  extending  helpful  supervision 
to  teachers  set  forth. 

Underlying  pixrposes  of  the  supervisory  organization. 
While  the  superintendent  and  his  assistants  must  of  neces- 
sity guide  and  direct  and  prevent  waste  in  instruction,  the 
difference  between  helpful  supervision  and  mere  inspection 
should  ever  be  kept  prominently  in  mind.  Supervision 
should  mean  help,  encouragement,  and  support  rather  than 
inspection  and  criticism.  Money  spent  on  supervisors  whose 
chief  work  lies  in  enforcing  the  obedience  of  all  to  uniform 
rules  and  regulations,  checking-up  and  percenting  the  school 
work  done  to  see  if  it  tallies  with  the  course  of  study  laid 
down,  manipulating  the  details  and  the  red  tape  of  the  ad- 
ministrative machinery,  and  tracking  down  violators  of  the 
prescribed  rules,  is  money  wasted,  and  its  effect  on  a  teach- 
ing force  is  positively  bad. 

Instead,  the  underlying  purpose  of  supervision  is  to  break 
up  any  such  tendencies,  to  extend  liberty  of  action  so  far  as 
liberty  can  be  shown  to  be  used  intelligently,  to  place  a 
premium  on  initiative  and  individuality,  and  to  infuse  a 
teaching  force  with  such  concepts  of  the  purpose  and  means 
and  ends  of  education  as  will  lift  their  work  above  sordid 

1  The  Salt  Lake  City  School  Survey  Report,  chap,  in,  describes  a  good 
example  of  such  service  with  a  body  of  school  principals. 


194  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

details  and  make  it  seem  to  them  truly  great  and  worth 
while.  With  such  a  guiding  conception  means  become  less 
important  than  ends,  and  the  careful  following  of  regula- 
tions of  less  moment  than  the  exercise  of  an  intelligent 
individuality. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Should  a  board  of  education,  on  its  own  initiative,  ever  — 

(a)  Order  a  study  taught  in  a  certain  grade? 

(b)  Order  a  study  taken  out  of  a  certain  grade? 

(c)  Order  the  character  of  the  instruction  changed? 

(d)  Order  a  certain  form  of  patriotism  taught? 

(e)  Forbid  the  observance  of  an  event  or  a  birthday  in  the  schools? 

2.  Should  a  committee  of  the  board,  or  individual  members  of  it,  ever  — 

(a)  In  visiting  a  school,  openly  criticise  the  work  of  a  teacher? 
(&)  Find  fault  with  a  principal  as  to  his  conduct  of  the  school? 
(c)  Give  directions  that  anything  should  or  should  not  be  done? 

3.  Should  a  board,  by  rules  and  regulations,  ever  require  — 

(a)  All  cases  of  discipline  to  be  reported  to  it? 

(&)  That  its  permission  be  asked  to  enable  teachers  or  schools  to  hold 

exhibits  of  their  work  or  meetings  with  parents? 
(c)  That  principals  of  schools  be  required  to  secure  its  permission 

before  inviting  any  person  to  speak  to  the  pupils  of  the  school? 

4.  Should  a  superintendent  of  schools  feel  it  necessary  to  ask  the  approval 
of  the  board,  or  a  committee  of  it  — 

(a)  To  permit  a  teacher  to  vary  from  the  adopted  course  of  study? 
(6)  To  authorize  an  educational  experiment  in  connection  with  the 
instruction  of  some  class,  or  school? 

(c)  To  give  permission  to  the  teachers  to  entertain  the  parents  of 
the  children  at  the  school? 

(d)  To  close  a  school  thirty  minutes  early  to  hold  a  teachers'  meeting? 

5.  Should  a  board  ever  require  that  teachers  and  principals  should  not 
enroll  in  study  courses  during  the  months  the  schools  are  in  session? 

6.  Point  out  some  of  the  means  of  professional  leadership  which  may  be 
used  by  a  superintendent  of  schools. 

7.  Suppose  a  board  finds  that  the  superintendent  of  schools  does  not  really 
know  what  to  do  in  educational  matters,  cannot  lead,  and  has  no  cour- 
age or  executive  force,  and  still  has  two  years  of  his  term  to  serve.  What 
should  the  board  do  in  such  a  case? 

8.  Why  is  a  good  woman  supervisor  of  primary  work  one  of  the  most  de- 
sirable assistants  a  superintendent  can  add  to  his  force? 

9.  If  you  were  a  superintendent  of  a  small  city  and  could  have  $3000  a 
year  for  special  supervisors,  how  would  you  spend  it  to  get  the  maxi- 
mum educational  returns  for  the  money  invested? 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPAETMENT  195 

10.  Three  small  cities,  located  near  one  another  along  a  trolley  line,  can 
afford  only  about  $2000  a  year  each  for  special  supervision.  What  is  the 
best  plan  you  can  suggest  to  enable  each  to  get  the  maximum  benefits 
from  such  an  expenditure? 

11.  Suppose  you  were  called  to  the  superintendency  in  a  city  which  for  a 
long  time  had  had  a  weak  supervisory  organization,  and  teachers,  prin- 
cipals, supervisors,  board  of  education,  and  the  community  were  not 
acquainted  with  any  better  way:  how  would  you  go  at  it  to  institute  a 
strong  supervisory  organization? 

12.  Distinguish  between  an  administrative  organization  and  a  supervisor] 
organization;  between  administration  and  supervision. 

13.  Why  is  a  system  of  fines,  as  described  in  the  Report  of  the  Portland 
School  Survey,  not  conducive  to  the  development  of  a  strong  supervis- 
ory organization? 

14.  Illustrate  types  of  service  of  the  members  of  the  supervisory  staff  in 
educating  the  teachers  and  the  public,  so  as  to  ward  off  criticism  and 
prepare  the  way  for  further  progress. 

15.  What  would  you  do,  in  an  administrative  way,  to  increase  the  impor- 
tance of  the  office  of  school  principal? 

16.  What  would  you  do  if  you  wanted  to  train  your  principals  to  render 
helpful  supervisory  service?   Outline  your  plan. 

17.  What  would  you  do  when  you  find  that  half  of  your  principals 
cannot  shoulder  responsibility,  or  render  any  supervisory  service  of 
value? 

18.  Many  writers  object  to  the  term  assistant  superintendent,  and  propose 
inspector  instead.  Does  this  term  express  the  purpose  of  such  a  super- 
visory officer?  What  would  be  a  still  better  term  to  use? 

19.  Fourteen  recommendations  for  reform  are  given  at  the  close  of  chapter 
ni  of  the  Report  of  the  Portland  School  Survey.  After  reading  this  chap- 
ter, discuss  the  desirability  and  feasibility  of  each  of  the  first  thirteen 
recommendations . 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  What  are  the  chief  duties  and  functions  and  services  of  assistant  super- 
intendents, in  cities  of  moderate  size  which  have  such  officials. 

2.  What  are  the  chief  duties  and  functions  of  a  supervisor  of  primary  work 
in  cities  employing  such  a  person? 

3.  How  does  the  group  system  of  schools,  with  a  supervisory  principal  for 
each  group,  as  in  Baltimore  or  Indianapolis,  seem  to  compare  in  edu- 
cational efficiency  with  the  principal-for-each-school  plan?  Which  plan 
is  the  more  expensive  for  a  city  to  follow? 

4.  Make  out  a  list  of  a  half  dozen  topics  of  a  kind  such  as  a  superintendent 
might  need  or  desire  to  discuss  with  his  "cabinet,"  in  a  city  large  enough 
to  have  such,  aside  from  the  principals. 

5.  Do  the  same  for  the  principals'  meetings  in  such  a  city. 


196  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATIOlSf 

6.  Do  the  same,  for  a  small  city,  where  one  special  supervisor  and  a  few 
principals  constitute  the  entire  supervisory  staff. 

7.  Do  the  same  for  meetings  of  the  special  supervisors,  in  which  the  super- 
intendent's underlying  purpose  will  be  to  broaden  their  conceptions  of 
the  educational  purpose. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Allen,  J.  G.  "The  Supervisory  Work  of  Principals  ";  in  School  Review,  vol. 
I,  pp.  291-96.   (May,  1893.) 

A  very  good  article  on  the  work  and  personality  of  a  school  principal. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision. 
434  pp.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1904. 

Chapter  IV,  pp.  104-32,  is  a  very  good  and  readable  chapter  on  the  organization 
and  work  of  the  supervisory  oflBcers. 

Chicago,  111.  Report  of  the  Chicago  Educational  Commission.  (1899.)  248 
pp.  Univ.  Chic.  Press. 

Article  III,  pp.  32-57,  on  the  system  of  supervision,  deals  with  the  work  of  super- 
intendent, assistants,  and  principals,  and  the  powers  they  should  be  given  to  insure 
effective  work. 

Clark,  M.  G.  (Same  topic  as  Hunter.)  Proceedings  of  National  Education 
Association,  1913,  pp.  303-07. 

Very  good  on  the  characteristics  of  superintendent  and  supervisors. 

Davidson,  P.  E.  "The  Professional  Training  of  School  Officers";  in  Edu- 
cational Review,  vol.  46,  pp.  473-91.   (December,  1913.) 

Describes  the  proper  professional  equipment  of  a  school  principal,  and  analyzes 
his  work  and  duties.  A  good  article. 

Elliott,  E.  C.    City  School  Supervision.    250  pp.  1914.    World  Book  Co., 

Yonkers.   (Part  of  the  New  York  City  School  Survey  Report.) 

Chapters  IV  and  V  deal  with  the  school  as  the  unit  of  supervision,  and  the  work 
of  the  district  superintendents.  A  somewhat  detailed  analysis  of  administrative  and 
supervisory  conditions  in  New  York  City. 

Farrington,  F.  E.  "The  Equipment  of  the  School  Supervisor";  in  Edu- 
cational Review,  vol.  35,  pp.  41-51.    (January,  1908.) 

A  very  good  article  on  the  training  and  qualifications  needed  for  a  principal  or  a 
supervisor. 

Hunter,  Fr.  M.  "How  can  Supervisors  and  Assistant  Superintendents 
render  the  Most  Efficient  Service  in  their  Relations  to  Principals  and 
Teachers?"  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913, 
pp.  300-03. 

Very  good  on  the  place  of  the  superintendent  in  such  service. 

Kendall,  C.  N.  "The  Management  of  Special  Departments";  in  Procedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1904,  pp.  271-76. 

Good  on  the  mutual  relations  of  superintendent  and  special  supervisors,  and  the 
organization  of  special  supervision. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  197 

Kennedy,  J.  "The  Function  of  Supervision";  in  Educational  Review,  vol. 
I,  pp.  465-69.    (May,  1891.) 

A  very  good  article  on  the  characteristics  of  good  school  supervision. 
McMurry,  F.  M.  Elementary  School  Standards.  218  pp.  World  Book  Co., 
Yonkers,  1913.   (Part  of  the  New  York  City  School  Survey  Report.) 

Part  III,  chapters  12-16,  sets  up  standards  for  supervision  and  draws  conclusions 
as  to  the  character  of  supervision  existing. 

Nelson,  B.  E.  "How  can  the  Ward  School  Principal  be  of  Most  Service?" 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1909,  pp.  324-26. 
Good  on  the  administrative  and  supervisory  work  of  a  principal. 

Portland,  Ore.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  1915. 

Chapter  III,  on  the  system  of  supervision,  describes  a  weak  supervisory  organiza- 
tion. The  necessary  changes  are  listed  at  the  end  in  a  series  of  recommendations. 

Potter,  M.  C.  "The  Relation  of  Supervisory  Assistant  to  the  Superintend- 
ent"; in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  296- 
99. 

A  good  paper,  followed  by  a  good  short  talk  on  the  same  topic  by  J.  J.  Keyes. 

Potter,  M.  C.  "Qualifications  and  Functions  of  the  Ward-School  Prin- 
cipal"; in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1909,  pp. 
322-24. 

A  very  good  article  on  his  personal  qualities  and  work. 

Reynolds,  Alice  E.  "  The  Assistant  to  the  Superintendent,  —  his  Functions 
and  Methods  of  Work";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Associa- 
tion, 1904,  pp.  264-71. 
A  very  good  article. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.  (1915.) 
324  pp. 

Chapter  III,  on  the  administration  of  the  educational  department,  describes  a 
good  supervisory  system. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  TEACHING  CORPS 

I.  Selection  and  Tenure 
In  addition  to  superintendents,  special  supervisors,  and 
principals,  the  educational  department  also  includes  that 
large  body  of  persons  who  give  instruction  in  the  different 
schools  and  are  known  collectively  as  the  teaching  corps. 
The  selection,  assignment,  designation  for  retention,  and 
further  training  of  these  constitutes,  where  he  is  permitted 
to  exercise  such  functions,  an  important  part  of  the  work  of 
a  superintendent  of  schools. 

1.  The  selection  of  teacliers 

The  selection  of  teachers.  Every  school  system  needs  a 
few  additional  teachers  each  year  to  replace  those  who  re- 
sign, are  removed,  or  die;  to  meet  the  natural  growth  of  the 
city;  and  to  provide  for  new  types  of  instruction  added. 
Even  in  cities  where  population  is  practically  stationary  a 
few  new  teachers  will  be  needed  each  year,  while  in  a  rap- 
idly growing  city  the  annual  selections  may  run  into  scores 
or  even  hundreds. ^  To  see  that  only  the  best  available  ma- 
terial is  selected  for  the  vacant  and  new  positions  is  an 
important  duty,  often  neglected,  resting  upon  the  city  schooA 
authorities. 

In  some  cities  the  new  teachers  are  selected  largely  by 

1  In  the  Portland  Survey  Report  (chap,  iv),  statistics  were  given  showing 
the  number  of  teachers  needed  for  the  preceding  thirteen  years,  and  the 
statement  was  made  that  at  that  time  (1913)  about  one  hundred  new 
teachers  were  required  to  meet  the  needs  of  this  city  of  approximately 
250,000  inhabitants. 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   199 

the  superintendent  of  schools,  his  selections  being  approved 
by  the  board  of  education;  in  other  cities  the  city  board  of 
education  makes  all  the  selections,  sometimes  without  even 
consulting  the  superintendent  about  the  matter;  but  in 
most  of  our  cities  the  selections  are,  in  large  part,  the  work 
of  the  superintendent  and  board  acting  together,  each  trying 
to  do  what  is  best  for  the  schools. 

The  early  method.  In  the  earlier  days  of  our  educational 
work,  when  there  were  but  few  trained  teachers  anywhere, 
when  school  supervision  was  in  its  beginnings,  and  when  the 
demands  made  upon  the  schools  were  comparatively  simple, 
the  selection  of  teachers  by  boards  of  education  answered 
the  needs  of  the  situation  fairly  well.  The  passing  of  a  simple 
written  examination,  given  by  an  examining  committee  or 
by  the  county  superintendent,  and  the  issuance  of  a  teach- 
er's certificate,  answered  all  demands  on  the  scholastic  and 
professional  side. 

On  the  personal  side,  which  was  the  important  one,  the 
members  of  the  teachers'  committee  of  the  school  board,  as 
well  as  the  other  board  members,  were  visited  by  the  differ- 
ent applicants  and  importuned  by  their  friends;  the  per- 
sonality and  special  needs  of  the  applicant  were  given  due 
consideration;  and,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  the  per- 
sonal friendships,  church  relationships,  and  party  affiliation 
of  male  relatives  all  played  their  part  in  determining  who 
were  to  be  selected  by  the  board.  The  teachers'  committee 
finally  made  its  selections,  formally  reported  the  list  to  the 
full  board  for  approval,  and  the  board  either  adopted,  or 
modified  and  then  adopted,  their  report.  The  schools  being 
regarded  in  large  part  as  a  local  undertaking,  and  the  theory 
that  any  one  could  teach  who  could  govern  being  the  chief 
pedagogical  belief  of  the  time,  it  followed  that  outsiders 
were  seldom  selected,  and  that  the  bright  and  attractive 
graduate  of  the  last  class  in  the  local  school  system,  the 


200  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

daughter  of  the  estimable  citizen,  the  young  lady  who 
needed  to  help  her  widowed  mother,  or  the  widow  or  the 
deserted  wife  of  a  former  local  resident,  were  the  natural 
persons  selected  to  share  the  public  bounty  and  to  teach  the 
children  of  the  community  in  the  schools.  Where  the  schools 
had  been  taken  possession  of  by  the  local  politicians,  some 
local  boss,  instead,  had  to  be  seen,  and  he  dictated  all  the 
appointments  made  by  the  board. 

Defects  of  this  method.  This  earlier  method  has  per- 
sisted, in  whole  or  in  part,  in  many  of  our  American  cities, 
but  it  is  now  being  rapidly  replaced  by  one  more  likely  to 
result  in  the  selection  of  a  better  type  of  teachers  for  the 
schools.   There  are  two  main  defects  in  this  earlier  method. 

In  the  first  place,  boards  of  laymen  are  not  specially  com- 
petent persons  to  make  such  selections.  However  honest 
they  may  be,  they  are  more  or  less  unconsciously  influenced 
by  local  considerations  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
fitness  of  the  candidate  for  the  position  of  teacher.  Personal 
appearance  of  the  candidate  and  sympathy  for  her  counts 
with  them  far  too  much;  professional  merit  and  adaptability 
to  the  work  of  instruction,  for  which  they  have  no  standards 
for  judging,  count  for  far  too  Httle.  Professional  preparation 
and  success  are  not  appraised  at  their  full  worth,  and  hence 
their  possession  is  not  especially  encouraged  in  applicants. 

The  result  is  that  not  only  are  improper  persons  often 
selected  for  teaching  positions,  but  the  educational  and  pro- 
fessional standards  of  those  individuals  in  the  community 
who  decide  to  take  up  teaching  are  seriously  influenced  by 
such  bases  for  selection.  This  lowers  the  professional  tone 
and  tends  to  keep  down  the  professional  compensation  of 
those  already  in  the  school  system.  The  professional  ideals 
and  the  conception  of  professional  competency  on  the  part 
of  the  teaching  force  are  not  stimulated,  and  the  task  of  the 
superintendent  in  improving  the  instruction  in  the  schools 


SELECTION  AND  TENUKE  OF  TEACHERS   201 

is,  as  a  result,  made  much  more  difficult  than  is  necessary. 
Ultimately  the  children  in  the  schools  and  the  community 
as  a  whole  pay  the  price  of  the  school  board's  attempt  to 
exercise  such  a  professional  function  as  the  selection  of  the 
teachers  for  the  schools. 

In  the  second  place,  the  range  of  selection  is  usually  much 
too  narrow.  Boards  of  education  almost  always  wait  for 
applicants,  and  then  select  from  those  who  apply.  The  local 
candidate  has  the  inside  track  under  such  a  plan,  can  bring 
plenty  of  local  pressure  to  bear,  and  usually  secures  the 
position.  This  tends  to  keep  the  home  schools  for  the  home 
girls,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  home  girls  are  not  the 
equal  of  girls  equally  well  prepared  from  the  outside,  unless 
they  have  gone  away  from  home  for  their  training.  It  is  an 
important  part  of  the  training  and  life  experience  of  a  young 
person  to  go  away  from  home,  to  get  new  ideas  from  others 
and  to  be  influenced  in  new  ways,  and  to  come  in  contact 
with  new  people  and  gain  new  points  of  view.  In  no  line  of 
professional  work  is  this  more  important  than  in  teaching. 

Importance  of  guarding  appointments.  Few  more  impor- 
tant duties  rest  upon  a  superintendent  and  a  board  than 
that  of  guarding  carefully  the  entrance  to  the  position  of 
teacher  in  the  public  schools.  It  is  much  better  to  keep  out 
unprepared  and  improper  persons  in  the  beginning  than  to 
try  to  dismiss  them  later  on,  while  the  damage  they  do  in 
the  schools  is  prevented.  Even  at  the  best  the  superintend- 
ent and  his  supervisory  officers  will  have  enough  to  do  to 
train  the  newcomers  and  those  already  in  the  system  to  new 
work,  and  to  educate  them  to  larger  ideals,  without  having 
the  task  made  unnecessarily  difficult  by  the  addition  to  the 
system  of  those  who  have  no  real  place  there. 

Just  how  far  a  superintendent  can  go  in  guarding  this 
entrance  to  the  work  will  vary  much  in  different  communi- 
ties.  In  some  the  salaries  paid  will  be  so  low  that  trained 


202  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

teachers  from  the  outside  cannot  often  be  attracted  to  the 
service,  and  the  home  girls  accordingly  come  to  expect  the 
vacant  positions  as  soon  as  they  have  finished  the  high- 
school  course.  In  other  communities  the  salaries  may  be 
high  enough,  but  the  community  ideals  for  public  education 
are  low,  and  the  board  of  education  has  never  attempted  to 
change  conditions  by  setting  standards  which  ought  to  have 
been  enforced.  In  still  other  communities  good  salaries  and 
good  educational  and  professional  standards,  strictly  en- 
forced, make  the  work  of  selecting  new  teachers  an  easy 
matter. 

Fundamental  principles  of  action.  One  of  the  first  steps 
in  improving  conditions  surrounding  the  selection  and  re- 
tention of  teachers  is  to  get  rather  clearly  in  the  minds  of 
the  board  and  the  community  generally  certain  fundamental 
principles  of  action  which  relate  to  the  work  of  the  schools. 
These  may  be  stated  briefly,  as  follows :  — 

1.  Schools  have  been  ordered  established  by  the  State  for  the 
education  of  the  children  of  the  State,  and  each  child  in  the 
community  is  entitled  to  as  good  an  education  and  as  good 
teachers  as  the  community  can  afford. 

2.  Only  the  best  education  within  the  means  of  the  community 
should  be  provided,  and  this  can  be  the  case  only  when  the 
teachers  and  supervisors  employed  are  the  best  it  is  possible 
to  obtain  with  the  money  at  hand. 

3.  The  schools  exist,  in  no  sense,  to  afford  places  for  teachers. 
No  one  is  entitled  by  right  to  a  teacher's  position,  except  od 
the  one  basis  of  being  the  best-prepared  and  the  most  profes 
sionally  in  earnest  teacher  available.  In  no  way  should  the 
schools  be  made  local  family  affairs,  or  used  for  local  chari- 
table, political,  social,  or  religious  purposes. 

4.  The  question  of  where  a  teacher  comes  from  is  absolutely 
irrelevant.  "  Home  girls"  have  no  prior  claim  to  the  teaching 
positions,  and,  if  they  desire  to  teach  in  the  schools,  they 
should  be  required  to  make  a  preparation  the  equal  of  that  ol 
the  best  of  the  applicants  from  elsewhere. 

5.  Teachers  within  the  system  must  keep  th^nselves  profes 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   203 

sionally  alive  and  render  good  community  service  as  a  condi- 
tion to  the  retention  of  their  places. 

6.  While  any  one  may  file  an  application  for  a  position,  the  board 
should  reserve  the  right  of  passing  over  ail  applicants,  and  of 
inviting  specially  competent  teachers  from  elsewhere  to  fill 
positions,  even  though  such  have  filed  no  formal  applications. 

7.  The  continual  selection  of  teachers  who  have  had  little  or  no 
educational  experience  outside  of  the  city  or  of  the  immediate 
community  tends  to  result  in  an  inbreeding  process  which  is 
inimical  to  the  best  interests  of  the  children  in  the  schools.  A 
certain  percentage  of  new  blood  from  time  to  time  is  desirable, 
and  should  be  drawn  into  the  system  from  abroad. 

To  establish  such  principles  of  action  may  require  time 
and  tact  and  community  education,  but  their  final  estab- 
lishment is  of  fundamental  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the 
schools. 

Standards  which  should  prevail.  Another  step  in  im- 
proving the  conditions  surrounding  the  selection  of  teachers 
is  to  get  certain  definite  standards  of  competency  formu- 
lated and  adopted  by  the  board  of  education.  Such  give 
both  the  board  and  the  superintendent  a  foundation  to 
stand  upon,  and  eliminate  the  most  poorly  prepared  of  the 
applicants.  The  standards  which  ought  to  prevail  generally 
in  city  school  systems  may  be  stated,  briefly,  as  follows :  — 

1.  No  one  should  be  considered  for  a  position  as  a  teacher  in  a 
kindergarten  or  of  a  special  subject  or  type  of  instruction  who 
has  not  been  graduated  from  a  four-year  high  school,  or 
equivalent  institution,  and  in  addition  presents  evidence  of 
having  made  satisfactory  special  preparation,  as  certified  to 
by  diplomas  or  other  credentials. 

2.  No  one  should  be  considered  for  a  position  in  an  elementary 
school  who  has  not  been  graduated  from  a  four-year  high 
school,  of  equivalent  institution,  and,  in  addition,  been  grad- 
uated from  a  normal  school.  A  year  of  teaching  experience 
in  some  other  place  would  be  a  still  further  advantage. 

3.  No  one  should  be  considered  for  a  position  in  an  intermediate 
school  who  has  not,  in  addition  to  the  requirements  for  an 
elementary-school  position,  had  at  least  two  years  of  work  in 


204  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

a  college  or  university,  or,  in  lieu  of  the  above,  been  graduated 
from  a  college  and  had  either  practice-teaching,  or  one  year 
of  classroom  experience. 

4.  No  one  should  be  considered  for  a  position  in  a  high  school 
who  has  not  been  graduated  from  a  college  or  university  of 
standing,  and  who  has  not  made  special  preparation  to  teach 
the  line  of  educational  work  for  which  the  candidate  applies. 

5.  Before  final  election  each  candidate  must  file  with  the  super- 
intendent of  schools :  — 

(a)  Evidence  of  the  possession  of  a  valid  teacher's  certificate 
of  the  proper  grade,  or  credentials  which  will  entitle  the 
candidate  to  such.^ 

(b)  A  certificate  from  the  health  supervisor  of  the  city  schools, 
if  there  be  such  an  oflicer  employed,  and  from  a  local  phy- 
sician designated  and  paid  by  the  board  of  education,  in 
case  no  health  supervisor  is  employed,  stating  that  the 
candidate  has  been  examined  by  him  and  found  to  be  free 
from  defects  of  hearing  or  contagious  disease,  and  of  suf- 
ficiently sound  bodily  vigor  to  undertake  the  work  of  in- 
struction in  the  schools. ^ 

6.  The  superintendent  should  also  be  satisfied  that  the  appli- 
cant is  of  high  personal  character,  free  from  bad  habits,  and 
likely  to  exert  a  good  influence  over  pupils. 

In  a  small  city,  in  which  the  above  principles  of  action  and 
standards  for  the  employment  of  teachers  prevail,  the  snper- 
iatendent  will  not  find  the  selection  of  good  teachers  and 

^  In  some  cities  the  superintendent  of  schools  is,  or  forms  a  part  of,  the 
examining  committee  which  certifies  all  teachers  for  the  schools  of  the  city. 
As  a  certificate  to  teach  is  academic  in  its  nature,  being  based  on  the  satis- 
factory completion  of  certain  training  or  the  satisfactory  passing  of  certain 
examinations,  it  should  be  considered  largely  as  a  state  authorization  of 
employment  and  the  payment  of  school  funds  to  the  holder.  This  is  essen- 
tially a  state  or  county  function,  and  should  be  so  handled.  The  employing 
and  certificating  functions  should  be  separate,  and  the  superintendent 
should  not  be  subjected  to  the  double  local  and  personal  pressure  to  cer- 
tificate as  well  as  to  employ. 

2  In  the  case  of  persons  so  distant  as  to  make  such  a  requirement  before 
election  an  unnecessary  hardship,  this  requirement  might  be  temporarily 
waived  and  the  candidate  elected,  subject  to  such  an  examination  before 
beginning  work,  A  certificate  from  a  health  director  in  another  city  might 
also,  in  special  cases,  be  accepted. 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   205 

principals  a  difficult  matter  if  the  salary  schedule  is  the 
equal  of  that  of  surrounding  cities.  If  the  salary  schedule 
is  much  lower,  or  if  low  standards  as  to  employment  are  the 
rule,  he  will  have  continual  difficulty  in  securing  the  kind  of 
teachers  he  wants.  One  of  his  important  services,  then,  in 
the  education  of  his  board  and  the  community  will  be  to 
try  to  bring  about  better  conditions  surrounding  entrance 
to  and  pay  for  the  work  of  instruction. 

Methods  of  selecting  teachers.  The  usual  method  by 
which  the  teacher  problem  is  handled  in  most  of  our  smaller 
cities  is  that  by  which  the  board  of  education,  working 
largely  through  a  committee  on  teachers,  works  in  cooper- 
ation with  the  superintendent  of  schools  in  the  selection 
and  retention  of  teachers.  If  the  superintendent  is  a  man  of 
good  judgment,  —  fair,  honest,  and  knows  what  he  wants,  — 
he  can  have  his  way  in  most  cases.  Honest  and  well-meaning 
boards  tend  to  depend  upon  his  judgment,  and  to  follow 
his  advice.  In  the  smaller  cities  this  is  often  not  a  bad 
plan  to  follow,  the  superintendent  gradually  building  up 
his  strength  until  the  board  virtually  turns  such  matters 
over  to  him  to  handle. 

The  chief  difficulty  with  the  method  lies  in  the  fact  that 
boards  change  rapidly,  and  the  power  of  the  superintendent 
one  year  may  be  entirely  replaced  by  committee  control  a 
few  years  later.  The  matter  is  of  such  fundamental  im- 
portance to  the  successful  conduct  of  the  schools  that  the 
superintendent  should  be  guaranteed  certain  legal  rights  in 
the  matter  of  the  nomination  of  teachers. 

No  one  can  be  more  interested  in  securing  the  best 
teachers  available  than  is  the  superintendent  of  schools;  no 
one  knows  the  needs  of  positions  better  than  he;  no  one  is 
likely  to  be  able  to  discriminate  better  as  to  preparation, 
professional  attitude,  and  adaptability  than  is  he;  and  no 
one  is  less  likely  to  engage  in  nepotism  or  politics  or  to  be 


206  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

influenced  by  pull  than  he.  He  will  from  time  to  time  make 
some  mistakes,  to  be  sure,  but  he  will  make  a  much  smaller 
number  than  will  teachers'  committees  or  boards  of  educa- 
tion. Of  almost  equal  importance  with  good  selections,  in 
the  case  of  new  teachers,  will  be  the  maintenance  of  as  high 
professional  standards  as  the  salary  schedule  will  permit, 
and  the  effect  on  the  teachers  in  the  schools  of  this  concen- 
tration of  authority  in  professional  hands. 

Right  rules  of  action.  The  board,  as  a  representative  of 
the  people  in  the  control  of  the  schools,  should  have  the 
right  to  approve  or  disapprove  of  the  superintendent's  selec- 
tions, though  without  the  right  of  initiating  substitute  ap- 
pointments themselves.  The  following  principles  of  action 
covering  the  matter  represent  conditions  which  ought  to 
prevail:  — 

1.  The  superintendent  of  schools  should  nominate  all  teachers, 
principals,  supervisors,  and  assistant  superintendents,  in 
writing,  to  the  board  of  education  for  election  or  for  promo- 
tion. In  the  case  of  elementary-school  teachers  the  election 
should  be  to  a  position  in  the  schools,  all  assignments  to  posi- 
tions being  left  to  the  superintendent. 

2.  The  board  may  either  confirm  or  disapprove  his  nominations, 
but  should  have  no  power  of  substituting  other  names  of  its 
own  choice.^ 

8.  In  case  any  nomination  is  disapproved,  the  superintendent 
should  then  nominate  a  new  person  for  the  position. 

4.  The  board  should  be  permitted  to  elect,  without  such  nomina- 
tion, only  in  case  the  superintendent  refuses  to  make  a  nomi- 
nation. 

5.  The  members  of  the  board  of  education  should  refer  all  ap- 
plicants to  the  superintendent  of  schools,  and  refuse  to  dis- 
cuss positions  with  them.   To  this  end  the  board  should  an- 

^  In  the  Report  of  the  Chicago  Educational  Commission  (p.  45),  it  was 
recommended  that  the  superintendent  make  all  appointments,  promotions, 
transfers,  and  dismissals  of  teachers,  reporting  each  action  to  the  board  of 
education,  and  that  his  action  "shall  stand  as  final,  unless  disapproved  by 
a  majority  vote  of  all  the  members  thereof,  not  later  than  the  second  meet- 
ing after  the  report  is  made." 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   207 

nounce  that,  by  rule,  it  has  given  the  power  of  nomination  to 
the  superintendent,  and  that  the  members  do  not  desire  ap- 
pUcants  or  their  friends  to  visit  them  on  the  matter. 
6.  In  a  city  where  a  competitive  examination  sj'stem  is  in  use. 
the  board  should  refuse  to  see  applicants  or  their  friends  in- 
dividually, and  should  announce  that  the  attempt  so  to  visit 
them  will  be  regarded  as  unprofessional  conduct,  and  will 
prejudice  the  applicant's  chances  of  securing  a  position. 

Bases  for  selecting  teachers.  It  is  well  for  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools  to  have  some  system  of  rating  applicants, 
by  which  he  can  defend  his  selections  should  they  be  called 
in  question.  Certain  elements  should  enter  into  the  forma- 
tion of  judgments,  and  such  should  be  given  proper  weight. 
These  should  include :  — 

1.  Professional  preparation  and  experience.  A  low  grade  being 
given  for  the  minimum  preparation  and  experience  required 
by  the  rules,  or  for  too  much  experience  under  poor  conditions, 
and  increasing  for  larger  preparation  and  valuable  experience, 
up  to  a  certain  maximum  grade.    (For  example,  0  to  25.) 

2.  Evidence  as  to  professional  success.  No  general  letters  of  rec- 
ommendation to  be  considered.  Candidates  to  submit  names 
of  persons  engaged  in  educational  work  who  can  speak  as  to 
their  training  and  teaching  success.  From  these,  or  others, 
confidential  letters  to  be  obtained,  and  the  evidence  rated. 
This  rating  may  also  be  based,  wholly  or  in  part,  on  seeing  the 
candidate  at  work  in  a  schoohoom.    (For  example,  0  to  40.) 

3.  Personality  and  adaptability  to  the  work  of  instruction. 
Based  on  a  personal  interview.    (For  example,  0  to  25.) 

4.  Physical  examination  by  the  health  supervisor,  or  by  a  de- 
signated physician.    (For  example,  0  to  10.) 

A  combination  of  these  ratings  should  show  something  as 
to  the  relative  rank  of  the  candidates. 

The  competitive  examination.  In  large  school  systems, 
where  the  number  of  applicants  and  vacancies  are  both 
large,  a  fifth  element  is  often  introduced,  namely,  a  com- 
petitive professional  examination,^  and  this,  too,  is  given 

1  This  examination  is  not  for  purposes  of  certification,  but  is  profes- 
sional in  its  nature.  To  enter  it  the  candidate  should  hold  or  have  creden- 


208  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

its  proper  rating.  The  ratings  earned  under  each  of  the  five 
heads  are  then  added  together  and  the  candidate  is  given  a 
ranking  number  which  places  him  or  her  for  the  purpose  of 
election  to  a  teaching  position.^  When  such  a  competitive 
system  is  put  into  use  the  following  principles  of  action 
should  prevail :  — 

1.  On  the  recommendation  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  the 
board  should  elect,  from  those  highest  on  the  list,  and  without 
unnecessary  delay,  a  number  equal  to  or  nearly  equal  to  the 
estimated  number  of  new  teachers  needed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  following  year. 

2.  Further  selections  should  be  made,  in  each  case,  from  the 
three  remaining  highest  on  the  list. 

3.  For  satisfactory  cause  the  board  may,  on  recommendation  of 
the  superintendent,  subsequently  remove  any  name  from  the 
numbered  list. 

4.  Position  on  the  list  automatically  to  end  after  one,  one  and  a 
half,  or  two  years,  as  may  be  most  desirable. 

In  giving  such  competitive  examination  the  written  test 
should  involve  enough  questions  and  enough  choice  to  give 
a  candidate  a  chance  to  show  what  professional  conceptions 
he  or  she  has,  and  the  personal  examination  should  be  long 
enough  and  intimate  enough  to  enable  the  authorities  to 
measure  the  candidate  properly. ^ 

tials  for  a  legal  certificate,  valid  in  the  city  for  the  kind  of  position  for 
which  application  is  made.  The  examination  should  offer  the  candidate 
the  choice  of  a  certain  number  of  questions,  say  five,  to  be  selected  from  a 
Ust  of  say  ten,  and  dealing  more  or  less  directly  with  the  problems  of  in- 
struction in  the  schools. 

1  For  example,  suppose  a  candidate's  average  for  all  points  was  87.3 
per  cent,  and  this  placed  the  candidate  No.  62  for  an  elementary-school 
position,  out  of  85  candidates.  Suppose  also  that  the  city  needed  from  60 
to  70  teachers  a  year,  about  40  to  45  in  September,  and  the  remainder 
during  the  year.  Such  a  candidate  would  better  hold  her  present  position 
until  January,  and  then  could  hardly  expect  more  than  a  call  to  the  sub- 
stitute list.  A  candidate  whose  number  was  20  could  expect  election  to  a 
position  at  once. 

2  The  personal  examination  need  not  necessarily  be  taken  at  the  same 
time  as  the  other  tests,  but  might  be  given  at  any  time.    In  a  large  city 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   209 

Electing  applicants  vs.  hunting  teachers.  One  of  the  best 
features  of  the  competitive-exammation  plan  is  that  teachers 
from  the  outside  are  placed  on  a  plane  of  equality  with  the 
home  girls  in  the  matter  of  securing  positions.  Personal 
merit  now  counts  instead  of  personal  pull,  and  the  result 
under  such  a  system,  if  the  salary  schedule  warrants,  is  to 
draw  into  the  city  the  best  teachers  in  that  part  of  the 
State.  Where  the  superintendent  has  full  power  to  nominate 
all  teachers,  and  makes  an  effort  to  search  out  good  teachers 
elsewhere,  the  entrance  is  almost  equally  easy  to  compe- 
tent teachers  from  the  outside.^ 

This  is  as  it  should  be.  A  city  has  so  much  money  to 
spend  for  teachers  to  teach  its  children,  and  it  should  spend 
this  money  so  as  to  get  the  best  educational  results.  To  es- 
tablish a  good  salary  schedule  and  then  limit  competition 
to  home  girls,  is  to  waste  money.  If  good  salaries  are  to  be 
paid  the  market  should  be  wide,  and  the  offerings  should 
be  looked  over  carefully.  This  involves  the  hunting  of 
teachers,  instead  of  sitting  down  and  waiting  for  appli- 

a  special  examination  board,  consisting  of  two  assistant  superintendents 
and  three  principals,  might  be  created  to  meet  candidates  any  Saturday 
morning,  during  certain  months.  The  average  rating  of  the  five  could  be 
filed  as  the  personal  examination  rating. 

^  Superintendent  Carr,  in  an  address  before  the  National  Education 
Association  {Proceedings,  1905,  p.  183),  laid  down  the  following  rules  for 
increasing  the  efficiency  of  our  public  school  work:  — 

1.  Create  a  greater  public  desire  for  good  teaching  by  demonstrating 
the  difference  between  the  counterfeit  and  the  genuine  article. 

2.  Break  down  the  Chinese  walls  which  seem  to  surround  many  towns 
and  cities,  and  employ  good  teachers  wherever  they  may  be  found. 

3.  Eliminate  politics,  nepotism,  favoritism,  and  the  whole  brood  of 
like  isms  from  the  management  of  school  affairs. 

4.  Magnify  the  office  of  teacher. 

5.  Make  the  tenure  of  office  for  good  teachers  absolutely  secure;  ab- 
solutely insecure  for  poor  ones. 

6.  Promote  for  efficiency;  dismiss  for  inefficiency. 

7.  Protect  professional  teachers  from  ruinous  competition  with  non- 
professionals. 

8.  Pay  teachers  in  proportion  to  the  service  rendered. 


aiO  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

cants.  It  should  be  made  one  of  the  superintendent's  func- 
tions to  hunt  up  good  teachers,  investigate  them,  and  be 
ready  to  nominate  them  to  the  board,  as  needed.  Most 
school  boards  are  reluctant  to  give  the  superintendent  such 
authority,  though  few  things  that  they  could  do  would  do 
so  much  for  the  improvement  of  the  schools.  Some  day, 
when  school  supervision  becomes  more  of  an  expert  service 
than  it  is  to-day,  the  right  of  nominating  all  teachers  for 
appointment  will  be  given  to  superintendents  by  general 
state  law.^  The  tendencies  in  this  direction  are  already 
clearly  marked. 

2.  The  tenure  of  teachers 
The  usual  plan.  It  was  customary  once  to  engage  teachers 
for  only  a  single  term,  the  school  year  being  divided  into 
two  or  three  terms.  In  a  few  scattered  localities  this  plan  is 
still  followed,  but  in  most  communities  the  yearly  election 
is  the  plan  most  commonly  in  use.  Not  only  has  election 
for  a  full  year  been  authorized,  but,  so  thoroughly  has  the 
annual  conception  as  to  schools  been  established,  our  state 
laws  have  also  commonly  forbidden  contracts  extending  be- 
yond the  close  of  the  official  school  year.^  Still  more,  school- 
board  rules  not  infrequently  require  all  teachers  to  file  an- 
nual written  application  for  the  retention  of  their  positions, 
and  each  spring  the  formal  annual  election  of  teachers  for 
the  ensuing  twelve  months  is  the  chief  educational  event  of 
the  year.  Some  of  the  most  disgraceful  occurrences  associ- 
ated with  the  administration  of  public  education  in  our 

^  Quite  a  number  of  our  cities  have  changed  their  rules  so  as  to  pro- 
vide for  this;  a  number  of  bills  to  this  effect  have  been  introduced  into 
recent  legislatures;  and  Ohio  has  so  provided  for  its  cities  by  general  state 
law. 

2  In  a  few  States  a  longer  tenure  is  now  permitted.  In  Massachusetts, 
for  example,  teachers  who  have  served  one  year  in  a  town  or  city  may  be 
elected  "at  the  pleasure  of  the  school  committee." 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS      211 

cities  have  taken  place  in  connection  with  these  annual 
elections  of  teachers.^ 

Each  year  the  teaching  force  is  overhauled  by  the  board 
of  education,  formal  conferences  are  held  between  the  board 
or  its  teachers'  committee  and  the  principals  of  the  schools, 
written  charges  are  filed,  formal  hearings  in  special  cases  are 
sometimes  held,  teachers  are  kept  in  a  condition  of  worry 
for  weeks,  and  the  board  finally,  after  a  great  show  of  ac- 
tivity, drops  a  small  number  of  teachers  from  the  schools, 
and  elects  others  to  their  places. 

Not  infrequently  much  injustice  is  done.  Sometimes  the 
first  notice  a  teacher  has  that  her  work  has  not  been  satis- 
factory is  when  she  reads  in  the  morning  paper  that  some 
one  else  has  been  elected  to  the  position  she  has  held. 
Teachers,  too,  are  sometimes  dropped  over  the  protest  of 
the  principal  and  the  superintendent.  More  commonly, 
however,  the  injustice  is  the  other  way,  teachers  being  re- 
tained who  have  been  recommended  for  dismissal  by  both 
principal  and  superintendent,  and  others  being  elected 
whom  the  superintendent  has  opposed.  In  the  annual 
scramble  for  places  the  interests  of  the  children,  for  whom 
the  school  exists,  are  at  times  almost  forgotten. 

Under  such  conditions  the  teachers  soon  recognize  that 
their  principal  and  superintendent  are  powerless  to  protect 
them,  the  best  teachers  go  elsewhere  or  leave  the  work  for 
some  more  attractive  form  of  employment,  while  those  who 
remain  are  rendered  timid,  and  often  hesitate  to  do  their 
duty  for  fear  of  giving  offence  to  some  person  of  influence. 
The  result  is  a  condition  of  unrest  in  the  school  system  which 
is  not  good  for  the  schools.  If  we  add  to  the  above  conditions 
a  system  of  supervision  which  is  inspectional  rather  than 

^  See  Miss  Salmon's  article  for  many  concrete  cases.  Also  see  an 
article  in  the  Educational  Review  (vol.  25,  pp.  538-39),  entitled  "What 
ought  not  to  be  possible." 


212  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

professionally  helpful,  is  characterized  by  a  lack  of  leadership 
and  inspiration  to  effort,  and  a  rigid,  somewhat  uniform, 
and  sometimes  senseless  series  of  requirements  for  all,  we 
get  a  situation  which  serves  to  keep  teachers  in  a  state  of 
nervous  tension  which  is  most  irritating. 

The  uncertain  tenure  of  teachers.  Compared  with  em- 
ployees in  other  lines  of  work,  the  school  teacher,  under  the 
annual-election  plan,  is  not  accorded  the  tenure  of  position 
given  to  street-  or  steam-railway  employees,  general  business 
employees,  policemen,  firemen,  or  government  clerks.  None 
of  these  have  to  apply  over  and  over  for  positions  which 
they  have  been  filling  acceptably,  nor  run  the  chance  of 
annual  election  with  its  attendant  accidents  and  surprises. 
So  long  as  these  persons  render  efficient  service  they  retain 
their  places,  and  when  they  cease  to  do  so  they  are  first 
warned,  and  then  perhaps  transferred  to  a  less  important 
position,  and  finally  dropped.  Even  the  itinerant  Methodist 
minister  is  treated  better  than  are  teachers  in  some  of  our 
cities.  As  a  legal  fact,  every  teacher,  principal,  and  super- 
visor is  automatically  out  of  a  position  at  the  close  of  every 
school  year,  and  the  burden  rests  upon  them  to  see  that  the 
school  board  reemploys  them,  instead  of  the  burden  resting 
upon  the  school  board,  as  it  ought,  to  dismiss  those  it  does 
not  want  to  retain,  and  explain  their  reasons  for  doing  so. 

This  condition  is  in  part  a  tradition  from  early  times,  and 
in  part  the  result  of  a  board  of  rapidly  changing  laymen 
attempting  to  exercise  professional  functions.  They  have 
not  the  professional  insight  to  enable  them  to  see  far  enough 
to  plan  and  to  carry  out  a  consistent  educational  policy  for 
the  schools;  they  lack  standards  for  professional  compe- 
tency; they  are  too  subject  to  pressure;  and  in  their  official 
actions  they  are  usually  vacillating  and  uncertain.  It  is  not 
an  uncommon  thing  for  a  board  of  education,  after  much 
talk  about  the  importance  of  efficient  service,   to  drop 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   213 

twenty  to  thirty  teachers,  and  then  later,  when  the  relatives, 
friends,  and  newspapers  begin  a  defense  of  those  dropped,  to 
reinstate  all  those  for  whom  the  greatest  pressure  has  been 
exerted. 

True,  a  good  superintendent,  vested  with  power,  would  in 
some  cities  at  first  remove  more  teachers  than  the  board 
does,  but  this  would  be  because  the  board  has  for  long 
elected  persons  not  fitted  to  the  service,  and  has  not  insisted 
on  the  maintenance  of  professional  standards  by  those  in 
service.  True,  also,  that  in  many  cities  teachers  need  give 
little  thought  to  the  matter  of  retaining  their  positions, 
reelection  being  a  mere  formality,  and  every  satisfactory 
teacher  knowing  that  retention  is  certain.  Where  such  con- 
ditions prevail  there  has  usually  been  a  long  period  of  com- 
munity and  school-board  education  as  to  the  purpose  of 
public  education,  and  the  politician  has  been  replaced  by 
the  superintendent  in  the  selection  and  retention  of  teachers. 

The  life-tenure  movement.  The  result  has  been  that  the 
teachers  in  a  number  of  our  cities  have  gone  to  the  legislature 
and  secured  laws  giving  them  virtual  life  tenure.  In  large 
part  the  teachers  have  been  driven  to  this  by  the  incompe- 
tence and  injustice  of  school  boards  in  handling  the  matter 
of  appointments,  but  the  desire  to  escape  from  the  pressure 
for  personal  improvement  has  also  been  an  actuating  motive 
with  some.  There  is  usually  a  provision  in  these  laws  that 
teachers  may  still  be  dismissed,  after  a  public  trial,  for  im- 
morality, incompetency,  or  insubordination,  but  practically 
no  teachers  are  so  dismissed  in  cities  having  this  life-tenure 
plan.  Formal  written  charges  must  be  filed,  notices  of  trial 
served,  and  the  person  charged  may  be  represented  by  at- 
torneys. Nominally  it  is  a  trial  of  the  teacher  against  whom 
charges  have  been  filed,  but  in  reality  it  is  always  the  super- 
intendent and  the  principal  who  are  put  on  trial. 

Often  the  publicity  and  the  personalities  of  the  trial  leave 


214  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  teachers  and  the  pubHc  in  no  good  frame  of  mind  toward 
the  schools,  and  the  damage  done  by  the  public  trial  and 
the  newspaper  notoriety  is  often  not  repaired  for  months 
to  come.  Any  attorney,  without  difficulty,  can  create  a 
bad  situation  for  the  superintendent  and  the  board  at  such 
a  trial.  Parents,  whose  sympathies  have  been  worked  upon, 
are  summoned  in  numbers  to  testify  for  the  teacher;  the 
superintendent  and  the  principal  who  testify  against  the 
teacher  are  bullied  and  grilled;  and  the  board,  in  its  efforts 
to  protect  witnesses  against  a  browbeating  lawyer  and  to 
bring  the  hearing  to  a  conclusion,  can  be  led  into  technical 
errors  during  the  trial,  and  on  these  an  appeal  to  the  courts 
can  be  based,  in  case  the  board  dismisses  the  teacher,  with 
the  practical  certainty  that  the  courts  will  regard  the  pre- 
ponderance of  common  evidence  and  the  technical  flaws  as 
more  important  than  the  professional  evidence  submitted 
and  the  interests  of  the  children  in  the  schools.  The  almost 
certain  result  is  a  legal  reinstatement,  with  full  back  pay. 
The  result  on  the  schools  is  thoroughly  vicious.^ 

Effect  of  life  tenure  on  the  schools.  That  all  teachers  who 
are  reasonably  efficient  at  the  time  such  a  law  is  enacted 
will  continue  to  be  so  ten  or  fifteen  years  in  the  future,  any 
one  who  has  had  much  to  do  with  teachers  or  who  under- 
stands human  nature  knows  will  not  be  the  case.  Most  teach- 
ers keep  themselves  alive -and  growing,  even  under  adverse 
conditions,  but  there  are  others  who  render  their  best  service 
when  under  the  influence  of  a  constant  but  gentle  spur. 
Such  is  only  human  nature,  and  teachers  are  no  exceptions 
to  this  rule.  For  certain  teachers,  one  of  the  surest  means 
for  producing  inefficiency  is  to  take  away  this  constant 

1  San  Francisco  forms  a  splendid  illustration  of  this  situation.  There 
the  courts  reinstated  teachers,  dismissed  after  trial,  with  such  regularity 
that  both  the  board  and  the  superintendent  have  practically  given  up  all 
attempts  at  bringing  charges  against  teachers. 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS   215 

incentive  to  growth,  activity,  and  personal  endeavor  by 
granting  them  life-tenure  after  a  somewhat  limited  service. 
The  effect  is  also  demoralizing  to  other  teachers  in  the 
schools.  From  the  ease  with  which  teachers  can  secure  life- 
tenure  legislation  from  legislatures  one  would  think  that  the 
popular  conception  of  schools  is  that  they  exist  chiefly  to 
provide  positions  for  teachers. 

If  our  purpose  is  to  develop  a  self-satisfied  and  an  unpro- 
gressive  teaching  force,  to  ruin  our  American  public  schools, 
and  eventually  to  turn  education,  for  those  who  can  afford 
it,  over  to  the  private  and  parochial  schools  to  handle,  leav- 
ing public  schools  to  minister  to  the  needs  only  of  the  poorer 
and  more  ignorant  classes,  then  life-tenure  laws  for  teachers 
and  principals  is  one  of  the  surest  means  for  doing  this.  So 
large  and  so  important  a  public  business  as  education  — 
where  personal  growth  is  so  necessary  to  meet  changing 
needs  —  cannot  be  successfully  conducted  on  such  a  basis 
of  employment.  Life  tenure  for  all  efficient  teachers  there 
should  be,  but  it  should  come  as  a  deserved  reward  for  faith- 
ful and  efficient  service,  and  not  as  a  guaranteed  legislative 
right  to  all. 

A  middle  ground.  Between  these  two  extremes  lies  a 
middle  groimd  which  is  just  both  to  teachers  and  to  the 
schools,  and  that  is  indefinite  tenure.  When  a  new  teacher 
enters  the  service  of  the  city,  in  any  capacity,  he  or  she 
should  be  under  observation  for  two  or  three  years,  varying 
somewhat  with  different  teachers  and  different  positions, 
and  during  this  time  there  should  be  annual  reappointments, 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  superintendent.  After  this  pro- 
bationary period  has  been  successfully  passed,  the  teacher 
should  then  either  be  reelected  for  some  long  period,  say 
four  or  five  years,  or  placed  on  indefinite  tenure.  Under  the 
former  the  position  would  be  guaranteed  for  the  period 
stated,  subject  to  reconsideration  at  the  end  of  each  such 


216  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

period;  under  the  latter  the  annual  elections  would  cease  for 
all  time,  the  teacher  being  merely  continued  in  the  service 
from  year  to  year  without  any  action  on  either  side,  and  un- 
til such  time  as  the  board,  for  cause,  and  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  superintendent,  should  see  fit  to  terminate 
the  contract. 

This  right  to  terminate  the  contract  for  cause  is  an  impor- 
tant right,  and  should  not  be  denied  to  school  authorities. 
To  deny  it  is  to  say  that  the  teachers'  places  are  more  im- 
portant than  the  educational  rights  of  the  children.  No 
superintendent  who  is  wise  will  desire  to  dismiss  many 
teachers  or  principals.  If  a  teacher  or  principal  will  cooper- 
ate it  is  easier  to  educate  them  than  to  dismiss  them,  and 
far  more  pleasant.  If  superintendents  were  given  legal  con- 
trol of  the  selection  and  designation  for  retention  of  all 
teachers,  so  that  boards  of  education  and  their  committees 
were  deprived  of  all  powers  in  the  matter  except  the  ap- 
proval or  the  disapproval  of  the  superintendent's  recommen- 
dations, the  question  of  the  dismissal  of  teachers  would, 
in  most  communities,  occupy  a  less  important  position. 
Still,  good  teachers  do  not  always  continue  to  be  good,  and 
an  occasional  removal  will  need  to  be  made  for  the  welfare 
of  the  service.^ 

Terminating  the  contract.  The  notice  of  dismissal  should 
in  itself  be  given  under  certain  definite  conditions  which  are 
just  to  both  sides.   In  the  first  place,  no  teacher  should  be 

^  "The  removing  power  is  of  more  importance  than  the  appointing 
power.  Appointees  must  be  tested.  There  is  no  official  power  of  divination 
in  the  choice  of  subordinates.  Failures  are  conspicuous  in  every  business, 
public  and  private,  large  and  small,  in  making  the  first  choice.  Personal 
elements  are  often  more  potent  than  mental  ability.  Scholarship  is  not 
everything.  Certification  may  cover,  but  not  eradicate,  sins.  Therefore, 
whether  this  appointing  power  remains  where  it  is  now  so  jealously  guarded, 
or  is  subjected  to  various  experiments,  the  ultimate  reform  must  take  care 
of  the  removing  power,  as  to  which  oiu"  school  systems  are  lamentably 
wettk."  (J.  C.  Hendrix,  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  3,  p.  262.) 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS     217 

liable  to  a  termination  of  contract  for  failure  to  render  sat- 
isfactory services  who  has  not  been  notified  of  the  deficien- 
cies, and  given  an  opportunity  and  reasonable  assistance  to 
remedy  them.  If  improvement  does  not  result,  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  retention  of  the  teacher,  the  superintendent 
should  then  recommend  that  written  notice  be  served  on 
the  teacher,  for  specified  reasons,  to  the  effect  that  the 
board  desires  to  terminate  the  contract  with  the  teacher  to 
take  effect  at  the  close  of  the  school  year.  If  the  board  ap- 
proves the  notice  should  be  given  to  the  teacher,  and  not 
later  than  the  last  day  the  schools  are  in  session  during  the 
school  year,  and  when  so  served  the  contract  with  such 
teacher  terminates  at  the  end  of  such  school  year.  For  the 
sufficiency  of  the  reasons  for  terminating  the  contract  the 
superintendent  and  the  board  should  be  the  sole  judge, 
without  the  meddling  of  lawyers  or  the  interference  of  the 
courts.  Teachers  not  so  notified  continue  in  service  from 
year  to  year.^ 

This  middle  ground  is  equally  just  to  both  sides.  The 
usual  condition  is  not  just  to  teachers,  who  have  spent 
years  in  making  preparation  for  a  lifework  of  service,  and 
the  life-tenure  plan  is  not  just  to  taxpayers  or  to  the  chil- 
dren in  the  schools.  The  latter  certainly  have  rights  as  well 
as  the  teachers.  The  middle  ground  gives  practically  life 
tenure  to  every  worthy  teacher  and  school  officer,  but  merely 
reserves  to  the  board  of  control  for  the  schools,  acting  on  the 
recommendation  of  their  chief  executive  officer,  and  only 
after  helpful  advice  has  failed  to  bring  the  desired  im- 
provement, the  right  quietly  to  remove  from  the  schools 
those  who  should  not  be  there.   To  say  that  a  school  board 

1  Teachers  who  do  not  desire  to  retain  their  positions  should,  in  turn, 
notify  the  superintendent  in  writing  not  later  than  a  certain  date,  to  be 
sure  of  proper  release.  In  general,  though,  most  school  superintendents  are 
always  willing  to  release  a  teacher  who  is  offered  a  better  position  else- 
where, as  soon  as  the  position  left  can  be  properly  filled. 


218  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

has  such  power  by  trial,  under  the  Kfe-tenure  laws,  is  to 
cherish  a  delusion.  The  machinery  of  such  action  is  of 
course  provided,  but  the  difficulties  in  the  way  are  such 
that  it  can  seldom  if  ever  be  carried  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion. In  addition,  the  notoriety  and  the  bitterness  en- 
gendered by  such  public  trials  is  demoralizing  to  the  schools, 
and  should  be  avoided  by  both  sides  in  the  interests  of  the 
children  and  the  good  name  of  the  schools. 

Supervisory  officers  and  tenure.  Principals  of  schools, 
supervisors  of  special  subjects,  and  assistant  superintendents 
of  schools  should  be  given  the  same  tenure  as  teachers,  — 
that  is,  indefinite  tenure.  Any  efficient  supervisory  officer 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  his  position  under 
such  tenure.  When  we  pass  to  the  superintendent  of  schools, 
however,  the  conditions  of  tenure,  in  the  interests  of  efficient 
service,  should  be  somewhat  different. 

A  superintendent  stands  for  a  different  quality  of  service 
from  that  rendered  by  a  teacher,  and  to  a  large  degree  from 
that  rendered  by,  a  principal  or  a  special  supervisor.  It  is 
primarily  his  business  to  plan  and  to  lead.  At  times  he  must 
direct,  at  times  he  must  show  backbone  in  resisting  improper 
plans  and  people,  and  occasionally  he  must  put  his  back 
against  the  wall  and  fight.  He  ought  not  to  be  a  pugnacious 
individual,  but  he  will  not  be  true  to  the  interests  he  serves 
if  he  is  not  willing  to  stand  firmly  for  right  principles  of 
action  in  school  affairs.  A  superintendent  in  a  modern  city 
must  belong  to  the  vertebrate,  and  not  to  the  jelly-fish, 
class.  To  enable  him  to  stand  by  his  guns  when  submission 
or  retreat  would  be  shameful,  he  needs  protection  from  flank 
attacks,  so  that  those  who  would  indirectly  beat  him  ^^own 
in  his  efforts  to  protect  the  educational  interests  of  the 
children  under  his  care  may  be  made  to  fight  him  in  the 
open  and  face  to  face. 

The  two  flank  movements  usually  made  by  boards  of 


SELECTION  AND  TENUEE  OF  TEACHERS     219 

education,  in  the  process  of  reducing  a  superintendent  to 
submission,  are  to  attack  his  tenure  of  office  and  his  salary. 
To  prevent  this,  a  superintendent  of  schools,  after  possibly 
a  trial  period  of  one  year,  should  be  elected  for  certain 
definite  periods  and  covering  a  reasonably  long  time,  —  four 
or  five  years  are  perhaps  the  most  desirable  terms,  —  and 
during  such  term  of  office  the  board  of  education  should  not 
be  permitted  to  dismiss  him  except  for  serious  cause,  ^  and 
then  only  by  a  practically  unanimous  vote  (four  fifths  or 
five  sevenths,  for  example).  Neither  should  the  board  be 
permitted  to  reduce  his  salary  at  all  during  his  term  of  office. 
This  gives  the  superintendent  freedom  from  attack  along 
these  lines  for  a  certain  definite  period  of  time,  during  which 
he  can  plan  and  carry  out  a  definite  educational  policy. 

No  better  method  for  reducing  a  superintendent  to  subjec- 
tion could  be  devised  than  an  annual  reelection,  along  with 
the  teachers,  or  a  longer  tenure  coupled  with  an  annual  salary 
determination,  and  it  is  the  method  employed  by  boards  of 
education  all  over  the  United  States  to  enable  them  to  retain 
their  control  of  the  schools.  Under  the  plan  suggested  above, 
at  the  end  of  such  a  four-  or  five-year  period,  the  superin- 
tendent should  expect  the  results  of  his  work  to  justify  his 
actions  and  should  be  willing  to  have  his  services  reviewed 
and  reappraised.  In  a  position  where  so  much  depends  upon 
the  efficiency  of  the  individual,  and  where  efficiency  at 
forty  may  so  easily  change  to  inefficiency  at  fifty  or  fifty- 
five,  a  periodical  review  of  a  superintendent's  services  is  very 
desirable.  Life  tenure  for  superintendents  would  be  an  even 
more  serious  mistake  than  for  teachers. 

^  It  is  perhaps  desirable  to  give  a  board  of  education  the  right  to  remove 
a  superintendent,  after  trial,  for  immorality,  incompetency,  or  willful  neglect 
of  duty,  the  deposed  superintendent  having,  in  turn,  the  right  to  appeal 
the  decision  to  the  chief  school  officer  of  the  State,  who  should  pass  on 
the  sufficiency  of  the  evidence  and  should  have  power  to  reinstate  a  su- 
perintendent unjustly  (Msmissed. 


220  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Assistant  superintendents.  As  was  pointed  out  in  Chap- 
ter XIII,  assistant  superintendents  bear  a  particularly  con- 
fidential relation  to  the  superintendent.  Upon  their  loyalty, 
efficiency,  and  thorough  cooperation  much  of  a  superin- 
tendent's success  depends.  They  represent  his  cabinet,  and 
he  should  have  large  powers  of  choice  in  their  selection.  To 
elect  a  new  superintendent,  to  represent  a  new  educational 
policy,  and  then  to  weight  him  down  with  a  body  of  assistant 
superintendents  who  represent  an  old  and  displaced  regime 
or  an  antiquated  conception  of  education,  is  something  like 
tying  a  millstone  around  his  neck  and  then  expecting  him 
to  swim.  In  the  interests  of  efficient  service  an  assistant 
superintendent  should  be  on  the  same  indefinite  tenure  as 
previously  described  for  teachers,  so  far  at  least  as  the 
assistant  superintendency  is  concerned,  being  subject  to  re- 
assignment to  a  subordinate  supervisory  position,  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  superintendent,  at  the  close  of  any 
school  year,  if  in  the  judgment  of  the  superintendent  the 
assistant  is  not  satisfactory  for  the  type  of  service  desired. 
A  progressive  and  capable  superintendent  cannot  carry  out 
a  progressive  educational  policy  if  his  chief  lieutenants  are 
weak,  reactionary,  or  disloyal,  and  permanency  of  tenure 
should  not  be  expected  in  such  positions. 

Assignment  of  the  teaching  staff.  In  all  elections  of  mem- 
bers of  the  teaching  corps  the  election  should  be  to  the 
educational  department,  and  not  to  a  specific  position,  unless 
the  superintendent  should  desire  so  to  specify  in  recom- 
mending the  election.  In  any  case  all  assignments  to  posi 
tion,  and  all  transfers  from  position  to  position  if  the  same 
do  not  involve  a  change  in  salary,  should  be  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  the  superintendent  of  schools.  He  should  know  or 
be  able  to  find  out,  and  better  than  any  one  else,  the  peculiar 
demands  of  the  different  positions  and  the  peculiar  strength 
or  weakness  of  individuals,  and  he  should  be  able  to  effect 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS     221 

a  nicety  of  adjustment  of  teachers  and  principals  to  posi- 
tions such  as  no  board  of  education  or  teachers'  committee 
can.  All  promotions  within  the  staff  should  also  be  made 
by  the  board,  on  his  recommendation.  Also  on  his  recom- 
mendation, and  for  proper  reasons,  the  board  should  have 
the  right  to  transfer  teachers  or  supervisory  officers  to  less 
responsible  positions,  and  carrying  a  smaller  salary  than 
that  previously  paid.^ 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  How  are  teachers  selected  in  cities  that  you  know? 

2.  Should  the  application  blank,  which  candidates  are  asked  to  fill  out 
for  the  city  educational  authorities,  ask  for  the  religious  affiliation  or 
church  preference  of  the  candidate?  Why? 

3.  Why  do  low  standards  in  the  selection  of  teachers  tend  to  lower  the 
professional  tone  of  a  teaching  force? 

4.  Do  such  also  tend  to  keep  down  wages? 

5.  Why  is  selection  from  the  list  of  appHcants  likely  to  be  less  desirable 
than  the  hunting  of  teachers? 

6.  What  would  you  think  of  a  superintendent  having  a  form  of  letter, 
which  he  sends  to  good  teachers  elsewhere,  inviting  them  to  make 
application  for  a  position  in  his  city? 

7.  Why  is  a  low  salary  schedule  nearly  always  associated  with  low  pro- 
fessional standards  in  the  teaching  force?  Under  what  conditions 
might  such  not  be  the  case? 

8.  Do  a  high  salary  schedule  and  an  efficient  teaching  force  go  together? 
Why? 

9.  Assume  that  you  have  just  been  elected  superintendent  of  schools  in 
a  community  where  the  standards  for  selection  and  retention  of 
teachers  have  always  been  low.  What  steps  would  you  take,  and 
about  how  long  would  you  expect  it  to  take  you,  to  educate  the 
board  and  community  up  to  proper  principles  of  action:  — 

^  No  business  corporation  could  pay  dividends  if  it  adhered  to  the  prin- 
ciple, followed  by  most  of  our  schools,  of  always  paying  a  teacher  or  a 
principal  the  highest  salary  they  have  worked  up  to  in  the  school  system, 
regardless  of  the  service  rendered.  Only  the  very  poorest,  the  dishonest, 
or  the  profligate  are  discharged  by  most  corporations,  but  men  are  fre- 
quently transferred  to  positions  carrying  less  responsibility  and  salary,  and 
others  are  put  in  their  places.  The  efficient  are  promoted  and  the  inefficient 
are  reduced.  Such  a  plan  applied  to  teachers  would  enable  a  superintendent 
to  retain  some  teachers  whom  otherwise  he  ought  to  displace  entirely. 


222  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

(a)  If  the  community  is  poor  and  can  pay  only  relatively  small 

salaries? 
(6)  If  the  community  can  afford  good  salaries? 

10.  Is  the  daughter  of  a  large  taxpayer  any  more  entitled  to  a  position 
than  the  daughter  of  one  who  pays  little  or  no  taxes? 

11.  Assuming  that  "home  girls"  have  no  more  right  to  positions  than 
girls  from  the  outside,  are  there  good  reasons  for  choosing  such  if 
they  are  the  equal  in  training  of  outside  teachers? 

12.  In  quite  a  large  city,  do  you  think  it  desirable  to  select  all  teachers  for 
the  elementary  schools  from  those  educated  and  trained  in  the  city? 

13.  Why  is  a  physical  examination  and  a  health  certificate  a  desirable 
requirement  on  the  part  of  teachers?  Should  janitors  also  be  required 
to  comply  with  such  a  requirement? 

14.  Would  it  also  be  desirable  to  require  teachers  in  service  to  take  such 
an  examination  either  (a)  periodically,  or  (b)  on  request?  Should 
teachers  and  other  employees  of  the  school  department  have  the 
privilege  of  such  an  examination,  at  their  own  request,  from  the 
school  health  officer? 

15.  Would  the  recommendation  of  the  Chicago  Educational  Commission 
as  to  the  power  of  the  superintendent  to  appoint  and  report,  and  the 
board  to  veto,  be  a  better  plan  than  the  board's  approval  or  disap- 
proval of  the  superintendent's  nomination,  in  the  case  of  teachers, 
principals,  supervisors,  etc.,  in  (a)  a  large  city?  (6)  a  smaller  city? 

16.  Compare  college  presidents  and  city  superintendents  in  the  matter  of 
the  selection  and  appointment  of  teachers.  Compare  college  teachers 
with  public-school  teachers  in  the  matter  of  tenure. 

17.  Why  is  it  desirable  that  candidates  for  positions  should  not  visit 
school-board  members?  If  the  school  board  or  its  teachers'  com- 
mittee desire  to  see  candidates,  how  should  it  be  done? 

18.  Do  you  know  any  cities  where  such  standards  of  action  in  the  matter 
of  the  selection  of  teachers  prevail? 

19.  In  how  small  a  city,  and  under  what  conditions,  would  you  think 
it  desirable  to  introduce  the  competitive  examination  for  applicants 
for  teachers'  positions? 

20.  What  are  some  of  the  disadvantages  of  a  competitive  examination,  on 
fixed  dates,  in  all  but  the  largest  school  systems? 

21.  Would  the  competitive  examination  idea  be  applicable  to  high-school 
or  special  teachers?   Why? 

22.  Does  the  argument  for  indefinite  tenure  for  teachers  appeal  to  you  as 
sound?  If  not,  why  not? 

23.  Is  it  desirable  to  reinstate  a  teacher  who  has  once  been  dismissed? 

24.  Why,  after  a  teacher  has  proved  his  or  her  efficiency  by  five  years  of 
useful  service,  is  it  unsafe  to  assume  that  such  person  will  be  an  effi- 
cient teacher  after  a  lapse  of  fifteen  years? 

25.  What  reasons  do  you  see  for  so  many  promising  superintendents  de- 
clining in  efficiency  after  they  have  passed  fifty  years  of  age? 


SELECTION  AND  TENURE  OF  TEACHERS  223 

26.  What  consultative  rights,  in  the  matter  of  the  selection,  assignment, 
or  transfer  of  teachers,  should  be  accorded  to  — 
(a)  The  principal  of  an  elementary  school? 
(6)  The  principal  of  a  high  school? 
(c)  The  head  of  a  department  in  a  high  school? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Draw  up  a  form  of  application  blank  for  candidates  to  fill  out  who 
apply  for  a  position  in  your  city,  indicating  in  such  what  you  would 
desire  to  have  them  give  you. 

2.  Draw  up  a  form  of  inquiry  blank  such  as  you  would  like  to  use  in 
looking  up  their  references,  and  writing  to  others  about  their  training 
and  success. 

3.  Assume  that  the  board  of  education  employing  you  has  begun  to 
think  of  the  desirability  of  ttirning  over  to  you  the  duty  of  sorting 
out  and  nominating  all  teachers  for  election,  and  has  asked  you  to 
make  a  report  to  the  board,  setting  forth  the  arguments  for  the  pro- 
posal and  against  the  present  plan.  Draw  up  such  a  report,  in  the 
proper  form,  and  show  on  what  basis  you  would  propose  to  sort  out 
and  nominate  teachers. 

4.  Assuming  that  you  have  been  superintendent  at  the  city  of  X  for 
some  years,  that  the  board  of  education  and  the  community  have 
come  to  have  confidence  in  your  judgment,  fairness,  and  professional 
skill,  and  that  the  board  has  finally  become  convinced  of  the  desira- 
bility of  revising  its  rules  relating  to  the  employment  and  tenure  of 
teachers  so  as  to  bring  them  into  harmony  with  your  recommenda- 
tions, which  we  will  assume  to  be  those  of  this  chapter.  The  board, 
by  resolution,  directs  you  to  so  revise  that  division  of  the  rules  and 
regulations  and  to  submit  your  revision  to  them  for  approval.  Draw 
up  such  a  re^'ision. 

5.  Make  up  a  form  which  you  would  use  in  grading  the  probable  eflB- 
ciency  of  applicants  for  positions  in  your  city. 

6.  Look  up  and  report  upon  the  estimated  efficiency  of  the  competitive- 
examination  system  for  the  selection  of  teachers  as  worked  out  in  such 
cities  as  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco,  Albany,  Lowell,  or  New  York  City. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Ballou,  F.  W.    The  Appointment  of  Teachers  in  Cities.  202  pp.  Harvard 
Univ.  Press,  Cambridge,  1915. 

A  critical  and  constructive  study.    A  constructive  plan  for  appointing  teachers  13 
appended. 

Blewett,  Ben.  "The  Merit  System  in  St. 'Louis";  in  Proceedings  of  Na- 
tional Education  Association,  1905,  pp.  241-44. 

Basis  of  appointment,  and  reports  on  the  efficiency  of  teachers  and  principab  as 
a  basis  for  retention. 


9SA  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Chicago,  111.  Report  of  the  Educational  Commission.   (1899.) 

Chapter  IV  is  good  on  the  examination,  appointment,  and  promotion  of  teachers. 
Draper,  A.  S.  "The  Crucial  Test  of  the  Public  Schools";  in  his  American 
Education,  part  i,  chap.  vi. 

An  excellent  article  on  the  difficulties  and  the  dangers  of  the  teacher  problem  ia 
large  cities. 

Draper,  A.  S.  Necessary  Basis  of  the  Teacher's  Tenure.  41  pp.  Bardeeii» 
Syracuse,  1912. 

An  address  given  before  the  New  York  State  Teachers'  Association. 
Draper,  A.  S.  "The  Teacher  and  the  Position";  in  his  American  Education, 
part  IV,  chap.  vi.    Also  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  20,  pp.  30-43. 
(June,  1900.) 

A  good  statement  as  to  contracts,  tenure,  and  the  mutual  obligaflons  of  board  and 
teacher. 

Dutton,  S.  T.  "  The  Expediency  of  importing  Teachers  of  Approved  Merit 
from  without  a  Town  or  City";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education 
Association,  1904,  pp.  322-26. 
A  very  readable  article. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  S.  The  Administration  of  Public  Education 
in  the  United  States.  (2d  ed.,  1912.) 

Chapter  XV,  on  the  teaching  staff,  contains  a  number  of  statements  of  fact  bearing 
on  the  subject-matter  of  this  chapter. 

Eliot,  Chas.  W.  "The  Teacher's  Tenure  of  OflSce";  in  his  Educational  B&» 
form,  pp.  49-58. 

A  brief  but  clear  statement  on  the  subject. 
Hendrix,  J.  C.  "The  Best  Method  of  appointing  Public  School  Teachers"; 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  3,  pp.  260-64.    (March,  1892.) 
A  good  article  by  the  then  president  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education. 

Hunt,  W.  A.   "The  Relation  of  the  School  Board  and  the  Teachers";  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1900,  pp.  625-31. 
A  statement  of  an  ex-president  of  the  Minnesota  Association  of  School  Boards. 
Monroe,  Paul  {editor).  Cyclopedia  of  Education. 

See  articles  on  "Certification  of  Teachers";    "Teachers,  Appointment   of";  and 
"Tenure  of  Teachers";  for  good  brief  statements  as  to  existing  practices. 

Portland,  Ore.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  1915. 

Chapter  IV,  on  the  election  and  tenure  of  teachers,  gives  a  number  of  good  illus- 
trations which  back  up  the  argument  of  this  chapter. 

Rafter,  A.  L.  "The  Merit  System  of  Rating  and  Rerating  Teachers  in 
Boston";  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  40,  pp.  193-200.  (September, 
1910.) 

Describes  the  system  in  use,  and  points  out  its  advantages. 

Salmon,  Lucy  M.  "Civil-Service  Reform  Principles  in  Education";  in 
Educational  Review,  vol.  25,  pp.  348-55. 

Contains  many  illustrations  of  mismanagement  by  boards,  especially  with  reference 
to  teachers'  positions. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  TEACHING  CORPS 

II.  Training  and  Supervision 
Whatever  plan  or  plans  are  employed  in  selecting 
teachers,  and  whatever  demands  as  to  training  and  experi- 
ence are  made  of  candidates  for  positions,  teachers  entering 
the  force  need  to  be  stimulated  to  increase  their  prepara- 
tion, and  the  classroom  work  which  they  do  needs  helpful 
professional  supervision.  These  two  features  of  the  teach- 
ing problem  will  form  the  subject-matter  of  this  chapter. 

i.  The  training  of  teachers 
Leavening  the  teaching  corps.  The  corps  of  teachers  with 
which  a  school  system  starts  each  year  ought,  taken  as  a 
whole,  to  be  an  improvement  over  the  corps  of  the  preceding 
year,  but  this  desirable  condition  cannot  be  unless  the  new 
teachers  entering  the  force  rank  higher  in  training,  teaching 
skill,  and  personal  culture  than  the  average  of  the  teachers 
pre\dously  in  service.  Whatever  plan  is  devised  for  selecting 
teachers,  it  is  important  that  the  incoming  teachers  should 
contribute  something  to  the  leavening  of  the  whole  corps. 
A  superintendent  ought,  each  year,  to  be  able  to  feel  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  good  selections  made,  the  teachers 
entering  his  schools  are  an  improvement  over  those  of  pre- 
vious years  in  education,  training,  and  teaching  skill.  Such 
a  condition  materially  lightens  the  duties  of  the  supervisory 
corps,  because  the  constant  introduction  of  such  a  stream  of 
new  teachers  brings  new  ideas,  new  enthusiasm,  and  new 
standards  of  educational  and  professional  preparation  to  all. 


226  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Professional  standards  for  entrance.  To  this  end,  as  was 
pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter,  good  standards  for  academic 
and  professional  preparation  should  be  established  by  the 
rules  and  be  insisted  upon  for  all.  For  present-day  city 
school  work,  graduation  from  a  good  high  school,  with  a 
good  two-year  normal-school  course  in  addition,  is  not 
too  high  a  standard  to  insist  upon  from  elementary-school 
teachers,  and  at  least  one  year  of  teaching  experience  else-- 
where  would  add  still  further  to  the  teacher's  equipment  for 
satisfactory  service.  Also  graduation  from  a  good  college  or 
university,  with  special  preparation  ip.  some  line  or  lines  of 
secondary-school  instruction  and  some  professional  study 
in  addition,  is  not  too  much  to  demand  of  teachers  for  the 
high  school.  With  the  recent  multiplication  of  good  normal 
schools  in  our  different  American  States,  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  colleges  offering  both  academic  and  professional 
education,  and  the  increasing  percentage  of  trained  teachers, 
it  has  become  relatively  easy  for  a  city,  which  has  anything 
like  a  satisfactory  salary  schedule,  to  make  and  to  enforce 
such  academic  and  professional  demands. 

As  was  stated  also  in  the  last  chapter,  it  is  an  important 
part  of  the  education  of  the  candidate  to  have  gone  away 
from  home  for  this  professional  preparation  and  early  class^ 
room  experience.  It  is  a  valuable  element  in  the  train- 
ing of  any  one  to  go  away  from  home,  to  come  in  contact 
with  people  of  different  ideas  and  ideals,  to.  learn  new  ways 
and  new  methods  of  doing  things,  and  to  have  one's  horizon 
enlarged  by  rubbing  up  against  people  who  look  at  things 
somewhat  differently  from  the  home  people.  The  home  girl 
who  has  had  such  an  experience  will  contribute  much  more 
to  the  strength  of  the  school  system  when  she  enters  it  than 
the  one  who  has  never  had  such  an  experience. 

The  local  training-school.  As  a  means  for  insuring  that 
the  new  teachers  entering  the  elementary  schools  shall  have 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  227 

had  some  professional  training  for  the  work,  a  number  of  our 
cities  have  estabhshed  a  local  city  normal  school,  or  training- 
course,  where  the  high-school  graduates  who  desire  to  teach 
in  the  elementary  schools  of  the  city  may  first  be  given 
some  professional  preparation  for  the  work  of  instruction. 
Most  of  these  teachers'  courses  were  established  twenty  oi 
thirty  years  ago,  when  salaries  were  lower,  normal  schools 
were  weaker,  and  trained  teachers  were  much  less  common 
than  is  the  case  to-day;  and  many  of  the  courses  have 
consisted  very  largely  of  practical  work,  being  more  in  the 
nature  of  apprentice  schools,  with  only  a  small  amount  of 
time  given  to  theoretical  instruction.  Within  recent  years, 
due  in  large  part  to  the  development  of  state  normal 
schools  and  the  increase  in  the  number  of  trained  teachers, 
there  has  been  a  tendency  to  abandon  such  com'ses  in  the 
smaller  cities,  and  materially  to  improve  those  in  the  larger 
ones. 

If  home  girls  only  or  very  largely  must  be  taken  for  ele- 
mentary-school teachers,  due  either  to  a  low  salary  schedule 
or  to  peculiar  local  conceptions  as  to  the  filling  of  places,  the 
training  given  in  such  schools  or  classes,  and  the  observation 
and  assistance  work  in  the  schools,  do  much  to  offset  the 
disadvantages  occasioned  by  such  an  unsatisfactory  basis 
of  selection.  In  the  smaller  cities  such  courses  are  often  de- 
fended on  the  ground  that  they  are  far  better  than  nothing, 
and  that  without  such  a  course  all  the  new  teachers  would 
enter  the  service  without  any  professional  training  what- 
ever. 

Limitations  to  such  training.  All  such  plans  for  securing  a 
trained  teaching  force  are,  however,  subject  to  a  number  of 
limitations  which  make  it  difficult  for  any  except  the  largest 
cities  to  provide  anything  like  an  adequate  professional 
preparation  for  the  work  of  teaching. 

In  the  first  place,  no  city  of  less  than  200,000  to  250,000 


228  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

inhabitants^  can  afford  to  provide  the  material  equipment 
or  the  staff  necessary  for  such  a  school.  This  equipment 
and  staff  should  be  at  least  the  equal  for  the  work  attempted 
of  that  provided  in  the  better  state  normal  schools.  The 
equipment  should  be  good,  both  in  building  and  teaching 
material;  the  teaching  staff  should  be  able,  in  part  drawn 
from  outside  the  city,  and  especially  selected  with  reference 
to  the  city's  problems;  and  the  instruction  offered  should  be 
such  as  to  attract  the  best,  rather  than  the  poorest,  of  the 
high-school  graduates.  No  city  of  less  than  200,000  popula- 
tion has  a  yearly  demand  for  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers  ^ 
to  warrant  the  expense  of  preparing  them,  if  the  preparation 
is  properly  made.^  Most  cities  would  find  it  far  better,  and 
cheaper  as  well  if  the  amount  of  money  spent  on  the  training 
is  what  must  be  spent  to  get  the  right  kind  of  results,^  to 
abandon  all  attempts  to  train  their  own  teachers,  increase 

*  There  were,  in  1910,  but  fifty  cities  in  the  United  States  which  had 
100,000  inhabitants,  but  twenty-eight  which  had  200,000,  and  but  nineteen 
which  had  250,000. 

2  Such  a  city  will  ordinarily  need  from  forty  to  fifty  new  elementary- 
school  teachers  each  year,  while  a  city  of  100,000  will  not  ordinarily  need 
over  twenty  to  twenty-five  new  elementary-school  teachers  yearly.  From 
two  to  four  per  cent  will  represent  displacements  and  resignations,  while 
growth  and  development  of  the  system  will  be  represented  by  not  over  two 
per  cent  in  a  city  whose  population  is  about  stationary,  and  from  six  to 
eight  per  cent  in  a  growing  city.  Perhaps  from  three  to  ten  per  cent,  vary- 
ing with  the  city,  will  represent  the  yearly  demands  for  new  elementary- 
school  teachers. 

^  One  trouble  with  many  of  these  courses  —  most  of  them  in  fact  —  is 
that  they  give  an  inadequate  preparation  and  are  too  easy  to  get  through. 
The  practice  work  is  often  so  overemphasized  that  it  becomes  apprentice- 
ship training,  rather  than  thoughtful  preparation  for  teaching,  and  the 
teachers  turned  out  lack,  in  consequence,  any  fundamental  philosophy  for 
their  work  on  which  they  can  grow  later. 

^  A  city  training-school  ought  to  be  as  well  equipped  for  its  work  as  is 
a  city  high  school,  and  ought  to  cost  about  as  much  to  maintain.  It  ought 
to  be,  too,  distinctively  a  leader  in  the  city's  educational  system,  setting 
standards,  initiating  new  plans,  trying  out  experiments,  stimulating  personal 
improvement,  and  giving  tone  to  the  whole  school  system  of  the  city. 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  229 

their  salary  schedules,  and  try  to  attract  to  their  service 
the  best- trained  teachers  in  the  State. 

Effect  of  such  courses  on  the  school  system.  In  the  second 
place,  such  courses  result  in  an  inbreeding  which  is  harmful 
to  the  school  system.  If  the  training-class  turns  out  enough 
graduates  to  fill  all  vacancies,  new  teachers  from  the  out- 
side have  practically  no  chance  to  get  in.  The  city  having 
provided  a  training-school,  the  high-school  graduates  of  the 
city  having  completed  the  course,  and  the  city  having  placed 
its  approval  on  them  by  graduating  them,  they  and  their 
friends  naturally  expect  that  they  will  be  given  positions  in 
the  schools.  1  Even  when  the  number  graduated  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  fill  all  the  vacancies,  the  training-class  serves  to 
establish  the  idea  that  home  girls  are  to  have  the  home  places, 
and  other  home  girls,  lacking  the  regular  training,  are  usu- 
ally put  in  to  supply  the  deficiency,  on  the  theory  that  the 
training-school  teachers,  in  their  rounds  with  the  appren- 
tices, will  look  after  them  also.  Sometimes  the  presence  of 
a  training  course  opens  the  way  to  a  most  disreputable  type 
of  petty  local  politics. ^ 

The  result  of  the  process  is  an  inbreeding  which  in  time 
saps  the  vigor  and  strength  of  the  school  system.  The  pro- 

1  Ayres,  in  his  Springfield  (Illinois)  Survey,  states  that  there  the  implied 
obligation,  after  thirty-two  years'  existence  of  the  teachers'  training-school, 
had  become  so  clearly  recognized  that  the  school  board  placed  those  finish- 
ing the  one-year  training-course  on  the  substitute  list,  at  a  low  salary,  until 
vacancies  occurred.   {The  Public  Schools  of  Springfield,  p.  65.) 

2  "Many  a  local  training-school  is  an  open  door  to  inefficiency,  and 
furnishes  the  petty  politician  an  opportunity  for  putting  into  practice  his 
pet  theory  of  doing  the  thing  that  benefits  the  community.  What  he  really 
does  is  to  benefit  a  class  at  the  expense  of  the  entire  community.  ...  If 
there  is  a  local  training-school  the  pressure  of  local  politics  is  likely  to  be 
so  strong  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  local  people  who  wish  to  teach 
will  be  admitted  to  the  school,  and  will  be  allowed  to  remain  there  until 
they  graduate,  and  then  secure  positions,  irrespective  of  their  ability  to  do 
the  highest  grade  of  work.  This  condition  of  affairs  is  true  in  many  cities 
in  various  parts  of  the  United  States  to-day."  (W.  F.  Gordy,  in  Proceedingi 
of  National  Education  Association,  1906,  p.  125.) 


230  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

spective  teachers,  often  taught  by  training-teachers  them- 
selves inferior  in  grasp  and  technical  preparation  to  those 
holding  similar  positions  in  the  state  normal  schools,  re- 
ceive, to  begin  with,  an  inferior  training.  All,  too,  are 
trained  alike;  all  learn  to  do  the  same  thing  in  the  same  way; 
all  get  the  same  working  conceptions  of  the  educational  pro- 
cess. As  a  result,  the  teachers  in  the  city  system  gain  little 
by  professional  contact  with  one  another,  and  lacking  con- 
tact with  teachers  who  have  learned  other  ways  of  doing 
things  and  have  different  conceptions  and  ideals,  the  result 
is  a  uniformity  throughout  the  school  system  ^  which  may  de- 
light the  heart  of  an  office-chair  superintendent  who  loves 
uniform  procedure,  but  which  is  deadening  to  the  real  life 
of  a  school  system.  One  of  the  most  important  steps  in 
increasing  the  efficiency  of  such  a  school  system  is  to  stop 
this  exclusion  of  outside  ideas  and  experiences  by  abolishing 
the  training-class,  spending  the  money  the  class  has  cost  on 
increased  salaries,  and  beginning  to  invite  into  the  system 
successful  teachers  who  represent  a  different  type  of  training 
and  who  can  bring  in  new  methods,  ideas,  and  ideals.  Even 
in  a  large  school  system,  where  a  city  normal  school  can  be 
maintained  to  the  best  advantage,  teachers  from  other 
school  systems  ought  to  be  brought  in  continually,  because 
of  the  new  ideas  and  differing  experiences  they  can  bring. 

Training  vs.  attracting  teachers.  Some  of  our  city  school 
systems,  in  contrast  with  such  a  procedure,  make  a  deliber- 
ate attempt  to  hunt  out  promising  teachers  elsewhere  and 
invite  them  to  make  application  for  positions.  In  our  best- 

1  Ayres  says  that  in  Springfield  his  staff  could  tell  a  training-class  grad- 
uate by  merely  seeing  her  conduct  a  recitation.  (The  Public  Schools  of 
Springfield,  Illinois,  p.  64.)  In  the  Portland  (Oregon)  Survey  it  was 
reported  that  "it  was  the  feeHng  of  the  members  of  the  survey  staff,  who 
inquired  at  all  into  the  matter,  that  the  poorest  teachers  seen  in  the 
schools  were  the  products  of  this  high-school  training  and  pupil-teacher 
system."    {Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System,  p.  58.3 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  231 

managed  school  systems  superintendents  feel  authorized  to 
look  up  teachers  in  other  places,  and  nominate  them  to  the 
boards  for  appointment.  The  cities  which  handle  the  selec- 
tion of  teachers  best  give  large  authority  to  their  superin- 
tendents in  such  matters,  putting  the  selection  of  teachers 
with  them  on  much  the  same  basis  that  college  and  univer- 
sity boards  of  trustees  place  the  selection  of  their  professors 
with  the  president  of  the  institution.  The  result  is  that,  if 
the  salary  standards  and  supervisory  conditions  warrant, 
such  a  city  can  draw  to  it  the  best  of  the  normal  and  uni- 
versity graduates,  within  a  wide  radius,  getting  all  the  ad- 
vantages that  come  from  a  variety  of  training  and  teaching 
experience.  Cities  that  can  offer  conditions  which  will  appeal 
to  teachers  elsewhere  are  extremely  short-sighted  to  attempt 
to  train  their  own  teachers,  and  in  consequence  cut  off  the 
possibility  of  employing  better  teachers  than  they  can  pos- 
sibly train. 

Training  of  teachers  in  service.  Teaching  is  a  calling  which 
demands  continual  growth  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in 
it.  The  advance  of  our  schools  is  so  rapid  that  teachers  who 
do  not  continue  to  increase  their  capacity  for  service  in 
time  cease  to  be  of  large  usefulness  to  the  system.  To  insure 
this  continual  growth  calls  for  continual  personal  training, 
and  not  only  should  a  certain  amount  of  such  training  be 
expected  of  and  required  of  teachers,  but  certain  definite 
premiums  should  be  placed  on  the  efforts  of  teachers  who 
voluntarily  do  more  than  is  required.^ 

1  "The  principles  and  practices,  the  theory  and  the  art  of  education, 
are  constantly  undergoiag,  in  common  with  all  other  phases  oi  civilization, 
modification  and  development.  Likewise  the  field  of  education  ia  which 
instruction  is  given,  and  the  habits  which  education  seeks  to  form,  are 
always  changing.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  if  the  institution  of  education 
is  to  render  its  full  service  to  humanity,  if  the  public  schools  are  to  perform 
their  full  duty  in  the  promotion  of  civilization,  that  every  teacher,  in  so  far 
as  in  his  power  lies,  shall  keep  abreast  of  this  development  and  change. 
No  matter  what  the  initial  equipment  of  a  teacher  may  be,  he  should 


232  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Personal  growth,  outside  of  that  connected  with  the 
mere  technique  of  instruction,  seems  to  be  exceedingly 
painful  to  the  ordinary  teacher.  The  normal-school  gradu- 
ate, who  might  be  expected  to  have  a  desire  to  continue 
study,  often  feels  that  her  entire  preparation  has  been  made. 
In  school  systems  where  the  home-product  idea  of  appoint- 
ment prevails,  it  is  often  hard  to  induce  teachers  to  under- 
take independent  reading  or  study.  Yet  the  remarkably 
rapid  progress  of  educational  theory  and  practice  in  this 
country  cannot  but  mean  that  those  who  will  not  keep 
growing  soon  become  relatively  inefficient  public  servants.^ 
The  training  that  produced  a  satisfactory  teacher  for  1890 
or  1900,  or  even  for  1910,  will  not  suffice  for  a  teacher  for  1915 

be  progressively  efficient  during  his  entire  period  of  service.  This  means 
not  that  he  should  grow  merely  in  those  ways  which  are  inseparably  con- 
nected with  his  own  individual  experience,  but  rather  that  he  should  profit 
by  the  experience  of  the  race  in  so  far  as  it  affects  his  own  work."  (H.  Up- 
degraff,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1911,  p.  434.) 

1  Superintendent  Van  Sickle  classifies  teachers  in  service,  who  are  more 
or  less  in  need  of  further  training,  into  the  following  groups  (see  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1911,  p.  437,  for  details  as  to  each 
group) :  — 

1.  Superior  teachers,  who  need  no  other  stimulation  than  their  own 
ideals  of  excellence. 

2.  Teachers  possessing  a  good  degree  of  executive  ability  and  adequate 
scholarship  of  the  book-learning  variety,  but  who  resist  change  be- 
cause they  honestly  believe  the  old  ways  are  better. 

3.  Teachers  lacking  adequate  scholarship  or  practical  skill,  or  both, 
self-conscious  and  timid,  because  unacquainted  with  standards  of 
work  and  valid  guiding  principles,  desirous  of  avoiding  observation, 
and  doing  their  work  in  a  more  or  less  perfunctory  and  fortuitous 
manner. 

4.  Teachers  lacking  adequate  scholarship  or  practical  skill,  or  both, 
but  not  conscious  of  this  lack  and  therefore  unaware  of  any  need 
for  assistance. 

5.  Teachers  yet  in  the  early  stages  of  their  service.  Such  usually  have 
had  some  professional  training,  and  from  it  have  gained  a  profes- 
sional attitude.  Supervision  should  try  to  get  these  teachers  into 
class  1,  and  prevent  their  developing  the  characteristics  of  class  2, 
3,  or  4. 

Teachers  in  classes  1,  2,  and  5  are  willing  to  have  their  work  seen 
and  valued  by  competent  and  trusted  supervisors. 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  233 

or  1920.  The  teacher  must  know  more,  and  her  ideals  for 
public  service  must  have  expanded  along  with  her  years  of 
service.  Teachers  are  in  no  way  exempt  from  the  same  con- 
ditions which  produce  inefficiency  in  other  professional 
workers. 

Teachers'  meetings.  The  welfare  of  the  schools  demands 
periodical  meetings  with  teachers,  and  such  are  everywhere 
recognized  as  an  essential  element  in  preserving  the  unity 
of  a  system  of  schools.  These  meetings  are  needed  for  con- 
sidering together  the  educational  policy  of  the  school  system, 
for  the  discussion  of  certain  phases  of  school  work  and  the 
progress  of  instruction,  somewhat  for  administrative  and 
supervisory  purposes,  and  for  inspirational  purposes.  These 
different  purposes  call  for  school-building  meetings,  meet- 
ings of  principals  and  supervisors,  grade  meetings,  meetings 
of  the  teachers  of  special  types  of  schools,  and  general  meet- 
ings of  all  the  teachers.  A  superintendent  could  well  afford 
to  devote  two  afternoons  a  week  and  one  Saturday  morning 
a  month  to  such  purposes.  A  few  days  a  year  could  also  be 
devoted  to  a  general  institute  of  all  the  teachers,  where  new 
ideas  and  new  inspiration  are  imparted  to  the  teaching  force 
by  carefully  selected  persons  from  the  outside.^ 

The  planning  and  direction  of  these  different  meetings 
will  require  much  care  and  thought,  but  will  well  repay  the 
effort  spent  upon  them.  A  year's  work  should  be  outlined 
for  each,  and  even  a  two-  or  three-year  cycle  may  be 
planned.  Each  meeting  should  have  some  definite  purpose, 
and  the  teachers  who  attend  should  be  made  to  feel  that 
the  meetings  are  worth  their  time.    If  the  superintendent 

1  Miss  Harris,  a  supervisor  at  Rochester,  New  York,  describes  {Proceed- 
ings of  National  Education  Association,  1906,  p.  120)  a  plan  followed  at 
Rochester  by  means  of  which  five  one-day  teachers'  institutes  are  held 
with  the  teachers  of  each  grade  each  year,  using  the  state  teachers'  insti- 
tute time,  and  reducing  the  teachers'  meetings  after  school  to  a  minimum. 
Such  a  plan  is  more  applicable  to  a  large  city  than  to  a  small  one. 


234  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

is  the  master  of  his  problem  he  will  find  in  these  meetings 
his  own  largest  inspiration  to  effort,  and  he  will  reap  returns 
from  them  in  the  increased  ease  of  supervision  and  the  more 
wholesome  attitude  of  his  teaching  force  toward  their  work 
which  will  well  repay  him  for  the  time  and  energy  they  de- 
mand. If  his  school  system  is  not  too  large  he  can,  in  this 
way,  conduct  a  form  of  normal  school  with  his  teachers, 
enlarging  their  outlook,  increasing  their  technical  prepara- 
tion, keeping  them  in  touch  with  the  best  educational  prog- 
ress elsewhere,  inspiring  them  to  new  efforts,  and  develop- 
ing in  them  new  ambitions  to  excel. 

Reading-circle  work.  As  an  adjunct  to  or  as  a  part  of 
the  meetings  with  teachers  and  principals,  there  should  be 
some  definite  professional  reading  each  year.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  effective  agencies  for  promoting  the  growth  of 
teachers  in  the  service.  The  effect  on  a  teaching  force  of  a 
careful  study  each  year  of  a  few  good  books,  pertinent  to 
the  work  they  are  doing,  is  cumulative,  and  the  result  over 
a  five-  or  ten-year  period  is  certain  to  be  large.  The  habit  it 
tends  to  establish  with  teachers  is  no  small  part  of  the 
benefit  derived  from  such  a  practice. 

It  is  certainly  not  unreasonable  to  expect  grade  and  high- 
school  teachers  to  read  and  discuss  two  good  well-selected 
books  of  a  professional  nature  each  year,  relating  more  or 
less  directly  to  their  work,  nor  to  expect  principals  of  schools 
to  read  at  least  half  a  dozen  good  books  and  some  magazine 
articles  bearing  on  their  administrative  problems.  These 
need  to  be  well  selected,  should  not  be  the  same  for  all  in  the 
service,  should  not  be  too  difficult  nor  too  far  afield,  and 
some  options  may  well  be  allowed.  Outlines  for  study, 
with  pertinent  and  suggestive  questions  for  thought  and 
discussion,  add  to  the  value  of  such  work. 

State  reading-circles  in  this  country  have  rendered  a  very 
important  service  in  awakening  a  professional  attitude  on 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  235 

the  part  of  teachers,  and  the  principle  of  the  state  reading- 
circle  idea  should  be  carried  over  into  our  city  school  admin- 
istration. It  offers  a  superintendent  an  effective  means  for 
advancing  the  professional  knowledge  and  enlarging  the 
professional  insight  of  teachers  in  service.  Thousands  of 
teachers  in  our  States  have  been  led  to  read  and  study 
professional  books  through  the  state  reading-circle  who 
would  never  otherwise  have  done  so,  and  many  teachers 
of  little  or  no  professional  training  have  been  stimulated  to 
undertake  a  course  of  study  in  some  professional  school.^ 
The  idea  has  made  much  less  headway  in  our  cities,  particu- 
larly in  the  larger  cities,  but  it  could  be  and  should  be  ap- 
plied to  the  needs  of  teachers  there.^  It  stimulates  thinking 
on  the  problems  of  instruction,  deepens  professional  insight 
as  to  the  means  and  purposes  of  education,  increases  the 
effectiveness  of  supervision,  and  tends  to  develop  a  pro- 
fessional attitude  toward  the  work  of  teaching. 

Leaves  of  absence  for  study.  The  carrying  along  each 
year  of  certain  professional  study  with  teachers  also  serves 
another  purpose,  in  that  it  tends  to  stimulate  in  them  a 

^  The  author  has  stated  elsewhere  his  belief  that  the  chief  reason  why 
so  many  men  from  the  State  of  Indiana  have  become  professional  leaders 
in  education,  and  why  so  many  Indiana  students  are  found  each  year  in 
the  leading  summer  schools,  is  that  for  thirty  years  the  teachers  of  the 
whole  State  have  been  engaged  in  the  study  of  professional  books  under 
the  direction  of  the  state  reading-circle  board. 

2  For  example,  the  whole  field  of  health  work  in  the  schools  has  opened 
up  so  recently  that  only  the  most  recent  graduates  of  the  best  normal  schools 
know  anything  about  child  hygiene  or  health  work,  yet  such  study  is  far 
more  important  in  the  equipment  of  a  teacher  than  methods  of  teaching 
arithmetic.  Within  the  past  five  years  teaching  how  to  study,  and  how  to 
handle  disciplinary  cases,  has  assumed  new  importance.  The  idea  of 
adapting  work  to  individual  needs  and  guiding  students  toward  life-careers, 
all  recent,  is  of  much  importance  to  upper-grade  teachers.  Few  school 
principals  know  much  about  the  supervision  or  testing  of  teaching,  or  even 
of  the  hygiene  of  their  school  plant.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the  many 
lines  along  which  profitable  reading  and  study  could  be  conducted,  in  part 
in  connection  with  teachers'  and  principals'  meetings. 


236  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

desire  to  undertake  further  academic  or  professional  prepa- 
ration. To  require  teachers  to  carry  on  private  study  irr 
academic  subjects  and  to  pass  examinations  on  such,  while 
engaged  in  teaching,  is  of  somewhat  doubtful  value.  It  may 
be  and  often  is  done  at  the  expense  of  the  instruction  in  the 
schools.  To  stimulate  in  teachers  a  desire  to  attend  summer 
sessions  and  to  take  a  year's  leave  of  absence  for  travel  or 
professional  study  is  different  in  its  results,  and  is  likely  to 
have  the  most  favorable  consequences  for  both  teachers 
and  the  schools.^ 

Many  superintendents,  who  must  be  regarded  as  authori- 
ties, contend  that,  after  a  certain  number  of  years  of  service, 
most  teachers  reach  a  plane  where  they  cease  to  make  any 
substantial  improvement  without  further  study  and  train- 
ing. This  point  is  usually  placed  at  about  the  seventh  or 
eighth  year  of  teaching  service.  At  this  point  these  super- 
intendents contend  that  it  is  of  great  advantage  to  teachers 
to  stop  and  spend  a  year  in  further  professional  study,  and 
to  this  end  a  few  city  school  systems  have  recently  pro- 
vided for  sabbatical  leaves  of  absence  for  teachers,  for  pur- 
poses of  travel  or  study.^  Such  leaves  are  common  in  col- 
leges and  universities,  where  professors  are  entitled  to  one 
year  in  seven  free  from  teaching  for  purposes  of  travel  or 
study,  the  institution  paying  them  part  of  their  salaries 

*  A  few  cities,  notably  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  and  Pittsburg,  have 
special  funds  from  which  grants  may  be  made  to  meritorious  teachers  to 
enable  them  to  travel  or  study.  The  Indianapolis  fund,  though  small,  has 
rendered  a  very  important  service  in  developing  a  professional  spirit  among 
the  teachers.  (See  Blaich,  L.  R.,  "  The  Gregg  Scholarships  in  IndianapoHs  " ; 
in  Elementary-School  Teacher,  vol.  12,  pp.  461-62,  June,  1912.) 

2  Boston,  Cambridge,  Brookline,  Gloucester,  and  Newton,  Massachu- 
setts, and  New  Rochelle  and  Rochester,  New  York,  are  examples  of  cities 
which  have  made  a  beginning  in  the  matter.  In  Boston,  Newton,  and 
Rochester  one  year  on  half -pay  after  seven  years  of  service  is  granted,  for 
travel  or  study;  in  Cambridge,  one-third  pay  after  ten  years  of  service. 
(See  article  by  Belcher,  K.  F.,  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  45,  pp.  471-84, 
May,  1913.) 


TKAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  237 

while  absent,  usually  one  half.  Such  leaves,  without  pay, 
are  also  usually  granted  to  professors  at  any  time. 

These  leaves  of  absence  are  granted  by  the  colleges  or 
universities  on  the  theory  that  their  gain  from  the  plan,  due 
to  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  service  rendered  after  the 
professor's  return,  is  worth  more  than  the  extra  cost.  If  the 
theory  that  a  teacher's  efficiency  reaches  a  point  of  dimin- 
ishing returns  after  a  certain  number  of  years  of  service  is 
sound,  and  there  is  much  reason  to  think  that  it  is,  the  same 
principle  of  leaves  applied  to' public-school  teachers  ought 
to  prove  of  much  value  to  the  schools. 

In  any  case,  additional  professional  study  along  lines 
tending  to  increase  classroom  efficiency  should  be  stimu- 
lated, and  leaves  of  absence  for  full  years  should  be  granted 
to  teachers,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  superintendent 
of  schools.  The  common  practice  of  boards  of  education  of 
refusing  to  grant  leaves  of  absence  to  teachers  for  further 
study  has  no  educational  foundation  upon  which  to  rest, 
and  is  based  solely  on  the  job-conception  of  the  position  of 
teacher  in  the  schools. 

In  the  next  chapter  the  value  of  such  additional  study  in 
estimating  salary  rewards  will  be  considered.^ 

2.  The  supervision  of  teachers. 
Deficient  supervision.  In  some  of  om-  cities,  it  must  be 
admitted,  no  problems  involving  the  continuous  education 
of  the  teaching  corps,  nicety  of  educational  adjustment,  nor 
a  high  degree  of  efficiency  in  the  art  of  instruction,  come 
in  to  disturb  the  even  tenor  of  the  educational  administra- 
tion. A  seK-satisfied  and  relatively  stationary  city  of  10,000 

1  This  topic  is  touched  on  but  briefly  here.  In  another  book  in  this 
series.  The  Administration  of  a  School,  the  supervisory  work  of  a  school 
principal,  which  in  a  large  city  does  not  differ  materially  from  that  of  a 
superintendent  of  schools  in  a  small  city,  will  be  treated  in  some  detail 
and  the  principles  underiying  helpful  supervision  will  be  set  forth. 


238  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

to  30,000  inhabitants,  which  has  long  been  flattered  by  the 
assurance  that  "its  schools  are  among  the  best  in  the  land," 
is  very  likely  to  produce  such  a  condition  of  affairs.  The 
school  board,  assisted  more  or  less  by  the  superintendent  of 
schools,  employs  the  teachers  and  the  principals  and  assigns 
them  to  their  positions,  and  each  teacher  and  each  school 
sinks  or  swims  according  to  its  own  ability.  New  and  un- 
trained teachers  are  turned  over  to  the  principal  of  the 
school  to  develop,  while  normal-school  graduates  are  re- 
garded as  a  finished  product.  The  high  school  is  left  almost 
entirely  to  its  principal,  to  manage  as  he  sees  fit.  The  super- 
intendent is  a  business  superintendent,  a  building  super- 
intendent, or  an  office  man,  who  contrives  to  keep  busy  on 
easy  work.  He  pays  little  attention  to  educational  prob- 
lems, and  when  he  visits  teachers  his  visits  are  for  social 
purposes  rather  than  for  real  supervisory  service.  Down  to 
about  a  certain  level  teachers  or  principals  can  drop  without 
being  questioned,  if  they  are  able  to  keep  out  of  trouble 
and  are  loyal  to  authority;  below  that  level,  or  if  trouble- 
some, they  are  dropped,  usually  without  much  or  any 
warning. 

The  school  system  in  a  way  slides  along;  home  girls  are 
awarded  the  places;  teachers  who  know  that  things  are 
not  what  they  should  be  either  leave  or  learn  to  say  nothing; 
there  is  no  attempt  to  educate  the  public  on  school  matters; 
private  and  parochial  schools  flourish;  the  school  board  is 
satisfied;  and  the  taxpayers  make  no  complaint.  Such  a 
condition  serves  only  to  show  how  few  people  there  are  in 
such  communities  who  possess  any  educational  standards  by 
which  they  can  say  that  the  school  system  is  not  what  it 
ought  to  be.  For  a  time,  and  often  for  a  long  time,  a  super- 
intendent can  carry  out  such  a  bluff,  but  sooner  or  later  he 
ought  and  must  give  way  to  some  one  who  can  introduce 
a  real  educational  administration,  and  who  can  raise  the 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  239 

schools,  and  along  with  the  schools  the  community  con- 
ception of  education,  from  mediocrity  or  less  to  a  plane  of 
real  efficiency. 

Supervision  of  the  wrong  type.  A  somewhat  higher  type 
of  supervisory  oversight,  but  one  thoroughly  wrong  in  prin- 
ciple and  disastrous  in  its  results,  is  one  in  which  the  super- 
intendent is  interested  and  efficient,  but  along  wrong  lines 
of  action.  The  result  is  the  production  of  a  school  system  in 
which  rigid  uniformity  is  prescribed  and  enforced  for  all. 
The  usual  characteristics  of  such  a  supervisory  system  are 
a  rigid  and  uniform  course  of  study,  usually  based  on  definite 
page  requirements  in  certain  textbooks,  an  attempt  to  force 
all  pupils  through  an  identical  course  of  instruction,  uniform 
regulations  as  to  methods  of  instruction  and  programs  for 
work,  and  periodical  general  examinations  of  all  classes,  on 
questions  based  on  the  course  of  study  and  made  out  at  the 
central  office.  The  supervision  then  consists  largeli  ot  b  - 
spection  to  see  that  the  teachers  are  following"  > 
and  are  making  proper  progress;  while  th^  ^,a  and 

tabula lloii  .>:  'ht  rusu^ts  of  the  exammatio. .  x  the  chart- 

ng  of  schools  and.4eackeis  as  to  efficiency  based  on  the 
r.^uiU  oi  such  periodical  tests,  come  in  as  an  important  part 
of  the  supervisory  service. 

Teachers  under  such  a  system  become  teachers  of  facts 
and  textbooks  rather  than  of  children,  while  the  ability  to 
discipline  and  to  cram  in  information  sufficiently  well  to 
make  it  stick  until  the  examination  period  is  over,  together 
come  to  constitute  the  chief  essentials  of  the  science  of 
education  demanded  of  the  teachers.  A  teaching  force, 
under  such  a  system  of  so-called  supervision,  naturally 
ceases  to  grow  professionally  or  to  be  professionally  inter- 
ested in  the  problems  of  their  work.  Under  such  a  system 
of  supervision  a  superintendent  rules  by  reason  of  the  weight 
of  his  authority  and  the  general  lack  of  professional  stand- 


240  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTKATION 

ards  on  the  part  of  his  teachers  and  principals,  rather  than 
because  of  the  support  and  backing  which  comes  to  him 
from  the  teaching  corps  due  to  the  helpfulness  extended  to 
them  by  intelligent  supervision. 

Need  for  helpful  supervision.  If  the  schools  in  any  city 
are  to  render  good  service,  there  must  be  plenty  of  close, 
personal,  and  helpful  supervision  of  the  instructing  corps. 
A  superintendent  of  schools  in  a  small  city,  and  a  super- 
visory corps  in  a  large  city,  in  addition  to  providing  properly 
for  the  growth  and  development  of  the  teachers  in  the 
school  system  by  continuing  their  training,  as  has  been 
indicated  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter,  must  also  spend 
much  time  in  helping  them  to  improve  themselves  in  the 
art  of  teaching.  Composed,  as  the  teaching  forces  in  our 
American  cities  are,  of  so  many  women  teachers  who  possess 
but  the  required  minimum  of  professional  training  and  who 
expect  or  hope  to  remain  in  the  service  but  a  short  time, 
the  supervision  of  instruction  attains  with  us  an  importance 
which  it  does  not  have  in  countries  where  teaching  repre- 
sents more  of  a  life-career.  Even  the  reasonably  well- 
trained  normal-school  graduate  requires  much  help  at  first 
to  adjust  herself  properly  to  the  work  of  a  city  school  sys- 
tem, and  to  enable  her,  in  the  course  of  four  or  five  years, 
to  reach  a  maximum  of  efficiency  with  a  minimum  of  mis- 
takes and  struggle.  The  teacher  with  no  professional  train- 
ing naturally  needs  much  more  personal  attention. 

Purpose  of  all  supervision.  The  purpose  of  all  super- 
vision should  be  constructive.  The  supervisor  who  goes 
about  as  an  inspector,  a  detective,  or  a  judge,  will  not 
render  services  of  much  value.  He  will  never  see  the  best 
work  of  any  teacher,  and  the  more  the  teacher  is  in  need 
of  assistance  the  poorer  the  quality  of  the  work  she  will  do 
beneath  his  critical  eye.  Neither  is  the  dictator  of  much 
real  assistance  to  teachers.  Helpful  leadership,  rather  than 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  241 

dictation  or  criticism,  is  what  teachers  need.  Mere  criticism 
is  deadening  in  its  effect.  Encouragement,  suggestion,  and 
practical  demonstrations,  with  criticism  only  to  serve  as  a 
basis  for  constructive  help,  should  represent  the  super- 
visor's chief  efforts.^  Kindliness,  consideration,  and  helpful- 
ness are  necessary  to  win  the  confidence  of  teachers,  and 
unless  teachers  can  feel  that  the  supervisor  is  a  friend  inter- 
ested in  their  success,  instead  of  a  critical  representative  of 
the  board  or  of  the  central  office,  helpful  relations  are  not 
likely  to  be  established  between  them. 

The  purpose  of  supervision,  too,  is  to  establish  a  unity  of 
effort  throughout  the  schools,  so  that  the  part  of  each  one 
in  the  education  of  children  may  be  as  effective  as  possible. 
Unity,  however,  does  not  mean  uniformity,  though  this 
mistaken  conception  is  commonly  held.  The  object  in  all 
attempts  to  unify  processes  and  procedure  is  to  mitigate 
the  evils  of  the  graded  system  of  instruction.  This  can  best 
be  done  by  securing  a  unity  of  purpose  all  along  the  line. 
Unity  of  purpose  and  cooperation  in  plan  are  what  is  de- 
sired. Sometimes,  ofttimes,  this  unity  calls  for  cooperation 
in  carrying  forward  the  ordinary  daily  work  of  the  school  — 
sometimes  it  centers  about  the  educational  policy  which  is 
to  pervade  the  system. 

Means  to  this  end.  The  supervisor  must  first  of  all  try  to 
establish  good  personal  relations  with  the  supervised.  This 
will  be  done  more  easily  if  criticism  is  withheld  at  first, 
with  a  view  to  drawing  out  the  teacher's  best,  which  can 

*  Mere  criticism  is  easy  and  cheap,  and  represents  a  low  order  of  scien- 
tific ability.  There  are  many  people  in  this  world,  of  reasonably  good  train- 
ing, too,  who  are  essentially  destructive  critics.  They  can  see  what  is  the 
matter,  but  they  cannot  offer  any  constructive  plan.  Such  people  may 
have  their  place  in  the  world,  but  it  is  not  in  school  supervision.  Con- 
structive criticism  represents  a  much  higher  order  of  ability  and  is  harder 
to  give,  but  constructive  criticism  is  the  only  kind  that  's  of  much  value 
in  school  supervision. 


342  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

then  be  commended.  The  teacher  can  thus  be  made  to  feel 
that  she  has  the  supervisor's  sympathetic  cooperation  in 
the  work  she  is  trying  to  do.  When  things  seem  to  go  wrong 
or  to  be  wrong,  personal  help  to  the  teacher  in  her  lesson 
planning,  questioning,  study  assignments,  seat  work,  time 
economies,  and  individual  cases  will  do  much  to  add  to  her 
confidence  in  the  supervision.  If  the  teaching  needs  im- 
provement, suggestions  as  to  better  ways  or  methods  should 
be  given,  rather  than  criticism  of  what  was  done;  while  for 
the  supervisor  to  take  the  class  and  teach  it,  with  the 
teacher  as  observer  and  critic,  will  often  prove  a  very 
valuable  means  of  rendering  aid. 

To  tell  a  teacher  that  her  work  is  unsatisfactory,  because 
the  results  are  unsatisfactory,  is  easy  and  cheap.  Almost 
any  person  with  a  little  teaching  experience  could  become 
that  kind  of  a  supervisor.  Under  such  a  line  of  attack  the 
schools  would  soon  be  relieved  of  a  great  many  promising 
young  people.  Such  work  merely  exchanges  one  untrained 
person  for  another  untrained  person,  while  a  feeling  as  to 
the  injustice  of  such  supervision  pervades  the  teaching  force. 
Helpful  and  friendly  relationships  can  never  be  established 
by  such  a  type  of  supervisory  service.  After  all,  while  larger 
knowledge  is  important  and  necessary  to  the  supervisor  in 
dealing  with  immature  or  untrained  teachers,  it  is  kindly, 
sympathetic  human  nature,  rather  than  larger  knowledge, 
which  will  prove  to  be  the  essential  requisite.  A  cold,  aus- 
tere, unsympathetic  supervisor,  whose  chief  stock  in  trade 
is  criticism,  whatever  his  knowledge,  will  never  succeed  in 
obtaining  good  results  in  guiding  and  helping  teachers. 
Such  personalities  have  no  real  place  in  a  supervisory  corps. 

Distribution  of  time  and  effort.  A  supervisor,  be  he  su- 
perintendent or  assistant,  should  learn  his  system  or  group 
so  as  to  supervise  most  economically  and  most  helpfully. 
Unless  he  is  a  piece  of  mechanism,  a  supervisor  will  not 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  243 

distribute  his  time  equally  among  all  of  his  schools  or  all 
of  his  teachers.  Some  need  more  help  than  others;  others 
need  in  large  part  to  be  let  alone.  To  some  teachers  a  super- 
visor goes  to  give  help;  to  many  for  a  friendly  greeting  or 
a  word  of  encouragement;  and  to  a  few  to  obtain  standards 
as  to  accomplishment  and  inspiration.  The  weak  teacher 
he  needs  to  help,  and  to  strengthen  by  suggestion  or  ex- 
ample. Many  capable  teachers  he  needs  to  keep  profes- 
sionally alive  by  a  form  of  criticism  which  consists  of  sug- 
gesting possibilities  of  further  achievement  of  which  the 
teacher  had  not  been  aware.  The  especially  capable  teacher 
often  strengthens  the  supervisor. 

What  is  true  as  to  the  superintendent  and  the  assistant 
superintendent  is  equally  true  of  the  special  supervisor 
and  the  school  principal.  Each  should  be  allowed  some 
liberty  in  choosing  how  and  where  to  work.  To  work  by 
order  and  by  the  calendar  among  teachers,  without  regard 
to  their  varying  degrees  of  efficiency,  is  not  working  in  the 
most  effective  manner,  and  is  not  the  best  use  of  a  super- 
visor's time.  To  find  and  to  improve  the  weak  spots  in  the 
system  or  the  school  ought  to  be  an  important  purpose  of 
a  supervisor. 

Demonstration  teaching.  An  important  means  in  the  im- 
provement of  teachers  is  directed  visitation  and  demonstra- 
tion lessons.  New  teachers  or  teachers  in  need  of  help  can 
be  sent,  or,  better  still,  taken  by  the  supervisor  to  visit 
the  class  work  of  certain  teachers  who  have  been  selected 
because  of  their  proficiency  in  certain  types  of  instruction. 
After  seeing  certain  lessons  a  conference  can  be  held,  with 
the  teacher  visited  as  the  leader,  and  the  how  and  why  of 
the  lesson  examined  and  explained.  A  few  days  of  such 
visitation,  from  time  to  time,  by  teachers  in  small  groups 
and  with  definite  purposes  in  mind,  with  the  resulting  con- 
ferences, will  do  much  to  show  new  or  weak  teachers  ways 


244  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

of  securing  results  which  will  materially  improve  the  quality 
of  their  instruction. 

In  some  cities  a  few  specially  capable  teachers  have  been 
selected  and  designated  as  training-teachers,  paid  a  little  ex- 
tra for  the  service,  and  charged  with  helping  teachers  along 
certain  lines  of  work.  After  a  visit  to  a  teacher,  the  latter 
may  return  the  visit  to  see  the  training-teacher  at  work 
in  her  own  schoolroom.  A  good  superintendent,  with  a 
primary  supervisor,  good  school  principals,  and  a  number  of 
such  training-teachers,  can  supervise  quite  a  large  teaching 
corps.  Such  supervision  and  assistance  often  seems  more 
helpful  to  teachers  than  that  given  by  regular  supervisors^ 
perhaps  largely  because  it  comes  from  one  nearer  to  them 
in  the  service,  and  from  one  engaged  in  the  daily  practicfc 
of  what  she  is  trying  to  supervise. 

Placing  for  effective  work.  Still  another  important 
means  of  extending  helpful  supervision  consists  in  the 
proper  placing  of  teachers,  so  that  the  maximum  personal  ef- 
ficiency may  be  obtained  from  each  teacher.  Anything  less 
is  not  getting  maximum  returns  for  the  money  expended, 
and  is  fair  neither  to  the  taxpayer  nor  to  the  teacher  con- 
cerned. The  control  of  the  placing  and  transfer  of  teachers 
should  Idc  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  superintendent.  No 
board  of  education  or  committee  of  the  board  has  the 
technical  knowledge  or  is  close  enough  to  the  problem  to 
be  able  to  handle  such  situations  with  any  degree  of  skill. 
Teacher  A,  now  in  a  sixth-grade  room,  will  do  better  in 
primary  work;  teacher  B,  now  in  third  grade,  seems  better 
adapted  to  teaching  the  adolescent  and  is  tried  in  the 
eighth  grade;  teacher  C  lacks  the  scholarship  for  the  upper 
grades,  but  has  the  large  personal  sympathy  and  ability  to 
take  pains  needed  for  lower  grade  work;  teacher  D  is  prop- 
erly located  as  to  position,  but  needs  a  less  trying  class 
until  she  gets  better  command  of  her  work  and  more  self- 


TRAINING  AND   SUPERVISION  245 

confidence.  So  it  goes  throughout  the  teaching  force.  The 
supervisory  study  of  every  teacher  should  involve  proper 
placing,  as  well  as  the  development  of  teaching  technique. 
The  preceding  paragraphs  sketch  very  briefly  something 
of  the  work  of  the  superintendent  as  supervisor,  referred 
to  in  Chapter  XI.  The  service  is  important  and  well  repays 
effort,  though  economy  demands,  as  a  school  system  grows, 
that  the  superintendent  spend  his  larger  efforts  in  training 
his  assistants,  supervisors,  and  school  principals  to  render  a 
satisfactory  grade  of  supervisory  service.  A  professional 
teaching  force,  satisfied  that  the  superintendent  and  his 
assistants  are  making  an  earnest  effort  to  help  them  to 
succeed  in  their  work,  forms  a  strong  bulwark  for  a  super- 
intendent in  times  of  popular  agitation  or  political  trouble. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  is  it  desirable  that  new  teachers  should  rank  higher  in  ability 
than  the  average  of  a  teaching  force?  ^ 

2.  Would  it  be  desirable  to  require  home  girls,  who  have  been  graduated 
from  a  normal  school  or  university,  to  obtain  some  experience  else- 
where before  entering  the  home  schools,  or  not? 

S.  What  would  be  some  of  the  serious  defects  and  limitations  of  a  train- 
ing-school for  teachers  in  a  city  of  100,000  population  or  less? 

4.  Why  does  the  training  which  sufficed  to  produce  a  satisfactory  teacher 
in  1890  or  1900  fail  to  produce  a  satisfactory  teacher  for  1915? 

5.  The  Report  of  the  Commission  to  study  the  school  system  of  Balti- 
more (p.  55)  showed  that  the  length  of  service  of  the  teaching  force 
at  the  time  (1911)  was  as  follows:  — 

Entered  service  of  the  city  prior  to  1860 5 

Entered  service  of  the  city  between  1860  and  1869 52 

Entered  service  of  the  city  between  1870  and  1879 137 

Entered  service  of  the  city  between  1880  and  1889 292 

Entered  service  of  the  city  between  1890  and  1899 535 

Entered  service  of  the  city  between  1900  and  1905 329 

Entered  service  of  the  city  between  1905  and  1911 438 

1788 
Point  out  the  need  for  further  training  of  such  a  teaching  force,  and 
the  efiect  on  the  instructing  corps  of  a  lack  of  it. 

6.  What  reason  can  you  see  for  teachers  reaching  a  somewhat  stationaiy 
plane  after  seven  or  eight  years  of  teaching  service? 


246  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

7.  What  type  of  subjects  could  be  taken  up  advantageously  in  a  general 
meeting  of 

(a)  Primary  teachers? 

(6)  Seventh-  and  eighth-grade  teachers? 

(c)  High-school  teachers? 

(d)  Elementary-school  principals? 

8.  Contrast,  in  influence  on  the  work  of  the  schools,  academic  study  while 
teaching,  and  study  in  summer  sessions  or  on  leave  of  absence  at 
regular  sessions  of  normal  schools  or  colleges. 

9.  What  reason  can  you  see  for  the  common  statement  that  it  takes 
four  or  five  years  to  make  a  good  teacher  out  of  even  a  normal-school 
graduate? 

10.  Can  you  see  any  reason  why  a  board  of  education  should  refuse  a 
leave  of  absence  to  a  teacheu  who  wishes  to  use  it  for  purposes  of 
study? 

11.  Do  you  think  that  sabbatical  leaves  for  teachers,  on  half  pay,  would 
be  a  good  thing  for  the  schools?  Would  the  results  compensate  the 
schools  proportionally  to  the  extra  cost  for  such  leaves? 

12.  Why  is  a  self-satisfied  and  relatively  stationary  city  more  likely  to 
have  a  poor  supervisory  organization  than  a  rapidly  growing  one? 

13.  Is  it  easier  to  succeed  in  a  city  having  a  supervisory  organization 
based  on  uniform  courses,  rigid  requirements,  and  general  examina- 
tions, than  in  one  having  a  flexible  and  highly  eflBcient  organization? 
Why? 

14.  Give  some  types  of  — 

(a)  Helpful  supervision. 
(6)  Negative  supervision. 
(c)  Destructive  supervision. 

15.  What  do  you  understand  by  the  statement  that "  the  purpose  of  super- 
vision is  to  establish  unity  of  effort  throughout  the  school  system"? 

16.  How  could  you  make  your  classroom  supervision  contribute  to  the 
training  of  teachers  in  service? 

17.  Would  a  rule  of  a  school  board  requiring  all  principals  to  teach  some 
particular  class  one  period  each  day  be  a  desirable  rule?  Why? 

18.  Why  is  the  fining  of  teachers  or  principals  for  violations  of  rules  and 
regulations  an  undesirable  practice? 

19.  Is  the  rule  that  when  a  woman  marries  her  position  is  automatically 
vacated  a  desirable  rule?   Why? 

20.  Is  the  rule  that  teachers  must  reside  in  the  city  where  they  teach  a 
legitimate  requirement?    Why? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Ascertain  the  exact  nature  of  the  training  for  teaching  given  in  the 
city  training-schools  of  three  typical  cities  of  different  size,  and  the 
character  of  the  teaching  force  and  teaching  equipment  of  each. 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  247 

2.  Calculate  the  cost  for  maintaining  a  city  training-school  in  a  city  of 
50,000  inhabitants:  — 

(a)  On  the  usual  basis  of  maintenance. 

(6)  On  a  proper  basis  of  maintenance. 
How  much  would  this  increase  yearly  salaries,  if  spent  in  this  manner 
instead? 

3.  Outline  a  plan  for  a  year's  work  with  school  principals,  directed  toward 
the  improvement  of  some  phase  of  the  educational  service. 

4.  Compile  a  list  of  books  or  reports  to  be  read  by  teachers  and  princi- 
pals, and  discussed  in  some  of  the  teachers'  meetings,  as  follows :  — 

(a)  Two  books  for  teachers  in  the  first  three  grades. 
(6)  Two  books  for  teachers  in  grades  four  to  six. 

(c)  Two  books  for  teachers  in  the  iutermediate-school  (grades  7 
to  9  inclusive). 

(d)  One  book  for  all  teachers  in  high  schools. 

(e)  Five  books  for  principals  in  elementary  schools. 

State  your  reason  for  including  each  book,  and  also  how  you  would 
direct  the  reading  and  handle  the  discussion  of  it. 

5.  Outline  a  plan  for  your  first  general  teachers'  meeting,  to  be  held  at 
the  beginning  of  the  school  year. 

6.  Formulate  certain  standards  for  judging  the  eflBciency  of  classroom 
instruction. 

7.  Look  up  and  report  on  the  administration  and  results  derived  from 
funds,  used  to  help  teachers  in  service  to  secure  better  training:  — 

(a)  The  Gregg  bequest  and  other  funds  in  Indianapolis. 
(6)  The  Schmidlapp  fund  in  Cincinnati. 

(c)  The  $250,000  fund  in  Pittsburg. 

(d)  Any  other  similar  funds  of  which  you  may  know. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Allen,  J.  G.  "The  Supervisory  Work  of  Principals";  in  School  Review,  vol. 
I,  pp.  291-96.   (May,  1893.) 

A  good  article  on  the  principal  as  supervisor. 

Arnold,  Sarah  L.  "The  Duties  and  Privileges  of  a  Supervisor";  in  Proceed' 
ings  of  National  Education  Association,  1898,  pp.  228-36, 
Good  on  how  to  extend  helpful  service  to  teachers. 

Ayres,  L.  P.   The  Public  Schools  of  Springfield,  Illinois. 

Chapter  VI,  on  the  teaching  force,  describes  the  results  arising  from  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  city  training-school. 

Belcher,  K.  F.  "The  Sabbatical  Year  for  the  Public  School  Teacher";  in 

Educational  Review,  vol.  45,  pp.  471-84.   (May,  1913.) 

A  good  presentation  of  the  plans,  experience,  and  cost  in  the  seven  cities  at  that 
time  having  such  plans. 

Brooks,  Sarah  L.  "Supervision  as  viewed  by  the  Supervised";  in  Proceed- 


248  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

ings  of  National  Education  Association^  1897,  pp.  225-33;  good  general 
discussion  of,  pp.  233-38. 

Deals  with  details  and  relationships. 

Butte,  Montana.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.   (1914.) 

Chapter  II,  dealing  with  the  quality  of  instruction,  and  Chapter  V,  on  the  super- 
vision of  instruction,  contain  good  statements  as  to  the  purpose  of  supervision  and 
the  proper  relations  of  supervisor  and  teachers. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  S.  The  Administration  of  Public  Education 
in  the  United  States. 

Parts  1  and  2  of  Chapter  XVI  deal  with  teachers'  institutes,  meetings,  and  reading 
circles,  presenting  many  facts  relating  to  such  activities. 

Gordy,  W.  F.  "The  Local  Training-School  as  an  Agency  for  the  Trainmg 
of  Teachers";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1906, 
pp.  124-26. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages.  Discussion  by  seven  superintendents.  Nine  reasons 
why  Utica  abandoned  its  training-school. 

Crreenwood,  J.  M.  "How  to  judge  a  School";  in  Educational  Review,  vol. 
17,  pp.  324-45.   (April,  1899.) 
An  excellent  article  on  helpful  supervision  and  how  to  give  it. 

Harris,  Ada  V.  S.  "  Influence  of  the  Supervisor  " ;  in  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  1906,  pp.  117-21. 

A  very  sensible  article  on  the  supervisor,  the  art  of  being  helpful,  and  on  teachers' 
meetings. 

Harvey,  L.  D.  "Two  Opportunities  for  Improvement  in  the  Administra- 
tion of  Grade-School  Systems";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education 
Association,  1900,  pp.  203-10. 

Deals  with  the  supervision  of  instruction  as  it  relates  to  the  course  of  study,  and 
examinations  as  tests. 

Jenkins,  Frances.  "Adjusting  the  Normal-School  Graduate  to  the  City 
System";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp. 
448-52. 

A  very  good  description  of  certain  types  of  training  for  teachers  in  service. 

Kendall,  C.N.  "  The  Management  of  Special  Departments  ";  m  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1904,  pp.  271-76. 

A  good  article  on  special  supervisors,  and  their  place  in  the  supervisory  work. 

Manny,  F.  A.  City  Training-Schools  for  Teachers.  165  pp.  Bulletin  no.  47, 
1914,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 

An  important  report  describing  teachers'  training-schools  in  the  larger  cities,  their 
services  and  defects,  training  of  teachers  in  service,  training  classes  in  smaller  cities, 
and  the  general  problem  of  training  teachers  for  city  service  vs.  attracting  teachers 
from  the  outside. 

Maxwell,  Wm.  H.  "The  Duties  of  Principals";  in  his  A  Quarter-Century  of 
Public  School  Development,  pp.  16-24. 
A  good  study  of  the  work  of  a  school  principal. 


TRAINING  AND  SUPERVISION  249 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  1915. 

Chapter  III,  on  the  system  of  supervision,  and  Chapter  VIII,  describing  the 
system  of  instruction  found,  describe  a  wrong  type  of  supervisory  effort. 

Reynolds,  Alice  E.   "The  Assistant  to  the  Superintendent;  his  Functions 
iind  Methods  of  Work";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Associa- 
tion, 1904,  pp.  264r-71. 
A  very  good  article. 

Ruediger,  C.  R.     Agencies  for   the  Improvement  of  Teachers  in   Service* 
157  pp.    Bulletin  no.  3,  1911,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
A  valuable  document,  covering  all  of  the  different  means  employed. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.    Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.    324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  V,  on  the  system  of  supervision,  describes  the  means  by  which  a  poorly- 
paid  and  largely  locally-selected  body  of  teachers  have  been  developed  into  a  fairly 
satisfactory  teaching  corps. 

Tietrick,  R.  B.  "How  secure  More  Effective  Supervision?"  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1914,  pp.  286-88. 
A  good  general  statement  as  to  means  and  ends. 

Updegraff,  H.  "The  Improvement  of  Teachers  in  Service  in  City  Schools"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1911,  pp.  433-41; 
discussion,  pp.  441-45. 

A  good  paper  on  the  different  means  and  incentives  used  in  the  improvement  of 
teachers  in  service. 

Warriner,  E.  C.    "Unity  gained  from  School  Supervision";  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1911,  pp.  311-16. 
Good  on  the  work  of  supervising  instruction. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  TEACHING  CORPS 

III.  Pay  and  Promotion 

Low  standards  and  compensation.  The  present  low  com- 
pensation for  the  work  of  teaching,  not  only  in  our  cities 
but  in  town  and  rural  schools  as  well,  is  largely  a  result  of 
the  low  standards  for  entering  the  work  and  the  job-concep- 
tion of  teaching  which  have  so  long  prevailed.  The  great 
mass  of  the  public  has  no  real  conception  as  to  what  proper 
training  for  and  adaptability  to  the  work  of  teaching  mean, 
and  does  not  take  particularly  kindly  to  proposals  to  raise 
the  requirements  for  admission  to  the  work.  The  public 
generally  fears  that  higher  standards  may  mean  higher 
taxes  for  schools,  and  desires  to  keep  teaching  on  as  nearly 
a  competitive  basis  as  is  possible.  Teachers  also  often  feel 
so  sympathetic  for  some  poor  friend  who  wants  to  teach  and 
who  may  be  cut  out  by  higher  standards,  or  are  so  fearful 
that  such  may  mean  closer  supervision  and  more  work  for 
them,  that  they,  too,  are  quite  willing  to  let  conditions 
remain  about  as  they  are. 

To  our  superintendents  of  schools,  backed  by  a  few  of  the 
more  progressive  teachers,  has  fallen  almost  the  entire 
burden  of  pushing  up  the  requirements  for  entering  on  the 
work  of  instructing  in  the  schools.  Practically  all  attempts 
to  demand  larger  academic  and  professional  preparation 
for  preliminary  certification,  or  increased  knowledge  and 
efficiency  for  higher-grade  certificates  and  for  the  retention 
of  or  advance  in  positions,  have  been  most  bitterly  opposed 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS         251 

by  teachers  and  would-be  teachers  and  their  friends  among 
the  general  public. 

A  stiff  legislative  fight  can  always  be  provoked  by  a  pro- 
posal materially  to  increase  the  standards  for  the  certifica- 
tion of  teachers  throughout  a  State.  The  sympathy  of  the 
public  goes  out  largely  to  "the  poor  teacher,"  instead  of  to 
the  children  under  the  poor  teacher.  The  legislation  fails, 
or  is  considerably  modified  in  form,  and  the  poor  teacher 
retains  her  position,  while  more  of  her  type  are  certificated 
to  compete  for  positions,  drive  the  best  teachers  out  of  the 
work,  and  keep  down  the  compensation  and  the  public  esti- 
mation of  all.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  low  standards  for 
certification  prevailing  in  practically  all  of  our  States;  the 
general  absence  of  any  graded  system  of  certification,  based 
on  increased  knowledge  and  professional  success;  and  the 
necessity  many  of  our  cities  still  feel  themselves  under  to 
quarantine  against  the  pressure  for  positions,  from  the 
poorer  teachers  of  the  State,  by  retaining  their  own  certifi- 
cating machinery.  1 

Adequate  pay  necessary.  Higher  pay  and  higher  stan- 
dards are  practically  inseparable,  and  higher  pay  must,  in 
most  cases,  precede  or  accompany  an  increase  in  require- 
ments. In  many  of  our  American  cities  the  increase  in 
preparation  demanded,  and  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing, have  together  outrun  the  increases  in  pay.  The  first 
step,  in  many  communities,  to  retain  even  present  stan- 
dards of  preparation  and  efficiency,  to  say  nothing  of  any 
increase  in  standards,  lies  in  the  direction  of  a  general  in- 
crease in  salary  for  all  teachers.  After  this  has  been  done, 

*  The  certification  of  teachers  ought  to  be  a  state  function,  with  general 
recognition  of  certificates  throughout  the  State,  and  interstate  recognition 
for  those  holding  certificates  of  the  higher  grades.  This  involves  a  better 
system  of  certification  than  most  of  our  States  now  have,  with  the  higher 
grades  of  certificates  based  on  adequate  evidence  of  increased  preparation 
and  professional  skill. 


252  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

additional  grants,  based  on  increased  professional  prepa- 
ration and  teaching  efficiency,  can  be  talked  of.  If  good 
teachers  are  to  be  obtained  to  fill  vacancies,  and  those  now 
in  the  force  are  to  continue  to  render  good  service,  all  must 
be  paid  enough  to  enable  them  to  live  as  persons  of  culture 
and  refinement  should. 

An  examination  of  the  recently  published  Report  on 
Teachers'  Salaries  and  Salary  Schedules  of  the  Commission 
on  the  Emergency  in  Education  of  the  National  Education 
Association^  reveals,  despite  recent  salary  advances,  a  rather 
pitiful  situation  in  many  of  our  American  cities.  From  $300 
to  $1200  a  year  for  elementary-school  teachers,  with  the 
median  at  $886;  $550  to  $1500,  for  intermediate-school 
teachers,  with  the  median  at  $1047;  and  from  $600  to  $2000 
for  secondary-school  teachers,  with  the  median  at  $1242, 
were  the  common  ranges  in  cities  of  from  25,000  to  50,000 
inhabitants,  as  late  as  1919.  While  there  have  been  a  num- 
ber of  small  increases  since  1919,  there  have  also  been  some 
decreases,  with  the  result  that  the  levels  of  to-day  probably 
do  not  stand  much  above  the  medians  for  1919.  Such  sal- 
aries are  shamefully  low,  compared  with  the  wages  paid  in 
trades,  business,  private  service,  and  other  city  offices  and 
work.  It  is  difficult  to  insist  on  adequate  standards  on  such 
a  pay  basis. 

What  such  pay  is  worth.  How  low  such  salaries  are  can 
perhaps  be  understood  better  by  turning  such  yearly  pay 
into  a  daily-wage  table.  There  are  twelve  months  and  three 
hundred  and  thirteen  working  days  in  a  year,  for  which 
almost  all  other  forms  of  service  are  paid.  That  the  teacher 
works  only  ten  months  and  two  hundred  days  a  year  is,  in 
part,  necessitated  by  the  nerve-trying  character  of  teaching, 

*  Teachers^  Salaries  and  Salary  Schedules  in  the  United  States  in  1918-19. 
169  pp.  National  Education  Association,  Bulletin  No.  6,  Commission  Se- 
ries. Washington,  1919. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS        253 

and  in  part  by  the  requirements  of  children  and  parents. 
The  teacher  must  live  the  whole  year  round.  Such  a  wage 
standard  gives  the  following  results  per  working  day:  — 


$300  a 

year 

equals 

$  .96 

$1200  a  year  equals  $3.84 

400 

(« 

1.27 

1300 

4.15 

500 

C( 

1.59 

1400 

4.46 

600 

C( 

1.92 

1500 

4.79. 

700 

« 

2.23 

1600 

5.12 

800 

(( 

2.56 

1700 

•«      5.43 

900 

it 

2.87 

1800 

5.74 

1000 

t 

3.18 

1900 

6.05 

1100 

t 

3.51 

2000 

"      6.36 

Carpenters,  machinists,  plumbers,  lathers,  plasterers, 
bakers,  telegraph  operators,  wiremen,  structural  iron  work- 
ers, blacksmiths,  printers,  bricklayers,  hod-carriers,  en- 
ginemen,  trainmen,  motormen,  clerks  in  city  oflSces, 
poUcemen,  firemen,  chauffeurs,  dressmakers,  milliners, 
and  nurses  are  paid  better  than  are  teachers,  at  the  an- 
nual salaries  usually  paid,  though  the  education  and  pro- 
fessional preparation  required  for  such  services,  except 
in  the  case  of  nurses,  is  not  comparable  with  that  required 
of  teachers.  No  marked  advance  in  raising  the  standards 
for  entering  the  work,  or  in  paying  teachers  on  the  basis 
of  eflficiency,  is  possible  under  such  salary  schedules. 

Reasonable  salary  demands.  When  the  American  bill  for 
education  is  compared  with  the  bill  for  tobacco,  drink, 
candy  and  soda-water,  or  amusements,  and  the  importance 
of  education  in  unifying  our  people  and  in  saving  and  ad- 
vancing the  best  interests  of  the  race  are  remembered,  such 
salaries  as  are  now  paid  elementary-,  intermediate-,  and 
secondary-school  teachers  in  many  of  our  cities  —  in  practi- 
cally all  of  the  cities  of  some  of  our  States  —  are  little  less 
than  disgraceful.  Considering  the  importance  of  the  serv- 
ice and  the  cost  of  training  and  living,  a  beginning  salary 


254 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


of  $900  to  $1000,  and  increasing  automatically  up  to  at 
least  $1200  for  elementary-school  teachers;  a  beginning  sal- 
ary of  $1000  to  $1200,  and  increasing  automatically  up  to 
$1400  to  $1500  for  intermediate-school  teachers;  and  a  begin- 
ning salary  of  $1200  to  $1400  and  increasing  automatically 
up  to  $1800  to  $2000  for  secondary-school  teachers,  is  cer- 


SALARY  IN  HUNDREDS  OF  DOLLARS 

1   2  3    4    S    6  7   8    9  10 II  12  13  If  15  16 17  18  19  20 


Fig.  16.    TEACHERS'  SALARIES  AND  PAY  IN  THE  TRADES  COMPARED 
(From  Evenden's  Teachers'  Salaries  and  Salary  Schedules,  p  110.) 


Teachers'  Salaries  an  average  of  salaries  paid  in  1918-19  to  teachers  in  cities  of  the  North 
Central  Division  of  States;  wages  of  workmen  an  average  of  the  union  scale,  same  year,  for 
Chicago  and  Cleveland. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS         255 

tainly  not  an  unreasonable  amount  for  any  American  city 
to  pay.  Many  cities  should  pay  more;  some  much  more. 

Automatic  increases.  The  usual  city  salary  schedule  pro- 
vides for  some  such  annual  increments,  advancing  slowly 
until  the  maximum  salary  is  reached,  though  both  the 
minimum  and  the  maximum  are  in  most  cases  below  the 
figures  given  above. 

Keeping  in  mind  the  principle  that  beginning  teachers 
tend  to  improve  in  efficiency  for  a  period  of  years  and  then 
to  reach  a  plane  of  little  additional  progress,  it  can  be  seen 
that  the  plan  of  making  a  series  of  small  salary  increases, 
based  on  years  in  the  service,  has,  for  a  time,  much  merit. 
The  beginning  salary  for  beginning  teachers  should  not  be 
too  large,  but  still  large  enough  to  attract  to  teaching  the 
kind  of  persons  desired,  and  then  should  increase  automati- 
cally, if  the  teacher  is  retained,  up  to  a  certain  maximum 
common  for  all  teachers  in  that  branch  of  the  educational 
service.  This  maximum  salary  should  represent  a  respec- 
table living  wage,  and  should  be  reached  about  the  time  the 
plane  of  maximum  efficiency  without  additional  study  is 
reached.  Increases  in  salary  beyond  this  common  maximum 
should  also  be  possible,  but  such  increases  should  be  de- 
pendent upon  increased  professional  training  and  demon- 
strated efficiency  in  the  service. 

Rewards  for  growth  and  efficient  service.  Just  how  to 
pay  to  elementary-school  teachers  such  additional  grants 
for  increased  professional  usefulness  has  been  and  still  is 
one  of  our  most  difficult  administrative  problems.  So  far 
as  secondary-school  teachers  are  concerned  it  has  been 
relatively  easy,  and  has  been  accepted  as  proper  and  just 
by  them.  By  the  creation  of  such  positions  as  heads  of 
departments,  sub-heads,  and  teachers,  —  or  heads  of  de- 
partments, instructors,  and  assistants,  —  a  graded  salary 
schedule  can  be  worked  out  which  can  be  used,  in  combi- 


256 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


nation  with  promotions,  to  reward  efficient  teachers  and  to 
hold  in  check  those  who  are  least  deserving.  In  the  case  of 
elementary-school  teachers,  however,  there  has  been  a 
marked  tendency  for  them,  as  a  class,  to  object  to  any 
discriminations  between  teachers  on  any  basis  involving  the 
question  of  the  personal  efficiency  of  individuals.  In  some 
cities  which  have  introduced  such  a  plan  it  has  produced 
discontent;  and  in  some  cases  a  tendency  to  unionize,  to 
antagonize  the  administration,  and  to  ostracize  those 
teachers  who  take  the  efficiency  tests  has  developed. 

That  all  teachers  who  have  been  at  work  long  enough  to 
be  regarded  as  experienced  teachers  are  of  equal,  or  even  of 


^^^ 

■*--^^**-*"*^*w 

^^- 

V^v                ^^V^ 

/ 

/          \/\ 

^». 

f 

r             /      ^ 

^ 

. 

/ 

/ 

/      \ 

V 

\ 

/ 

/ 

/                     \ 

\ 

\ 

f 

/ 

/                         ^ 

\ 

t 

/ 

/                             \ 

\ 

\ 

/ 

/ 

X                                                    N 

V         \ 

\ 

/ 

yy 

\\ 

\ 

^<t     ^^^ 

^v^   ^ 

^^          ^^ 

Poor 

Fair 

Average 

Good 

Superior 

Supervision    weak;    salaries    low 

Supervision   good;    salaries   good 

Fig.  17.  TENDENCIES  IN  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  TEACHERS  UNDER 
DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  SUPERVISION  AND  DIFFERENT  SALARY 
SCHEDULES 

approximately  equal  ability,  every  executive  officer  knows 
is  not  the  case.^  A  uniform  salary  schedule  assumes  that  all 
of  equal  rank  and  experience  are  approximately  of  equal 
worth,  —  a  condition  that  is  never  found  to  exist.    The 


*  For  ten  good  descriptions  of  individual  teachers,  with  salaries  paid 
each,  see  the  Re-port  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Portland,  pp.  79-80. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS  257 

great  bulk  of  the  teachers  in  any  city,  where  good  super- 
vision has  been  the  rule  and  professional  preparation  and 
growth  have  been  emphasized,  are  good  average  teachers. 
A  few  will  be  more  or  less  weak,  and  a  few  will  be  quite 
superior. 

Stimulating  industry  and  individual  improvement.  How 
many  will  be  of  the  class  known  as  superior  will  depend 
greatly  on  the  incentives  to  become  superior  teachers  which 
the  salary  schedule  and  the  administration  of  the  system 
provide.  To  stimulate  industry  on  the  part  of  teachers, 
to  encourage  individual  improvement,  and  to  reward  ex- 
ceptional merit,  should  be  characteristics  of  a  good  salary 
schedule  as  well  as  of  a  good  system  of  school  supervision. 
Take  away  incentives  to  growth  and  rewards  for  eJEcient 
service,  and  a  teaching  force  tends  to  decline  rapidly  in  eflB- 
ciency. 

The  plans  which  have  been  tried  to  prevent  such  a  decline, 
and  to  apportion  rewards  on  the  basis  of  merit,  group  them- 
selves around:  (1)  Attaching  different  salaries  to  positions, 
and  promoting  from  the  lower-paid  to  the  higher-paid; 
(2)  establishment  of  grades  in  the  teaching  service,  with  a 
different  salary  schedule  for  each;  (3)  additional  salary 
grants  for  evidences  of  increased  scholarship  or  professional 
preparation,  often  involving  the  passing  of  some  form  of 
promotional  examination;  (4)  grading  teachers  on  the  basis 
of  estimated  efficiency,  usually  using  some  rather  elaborate 
form  or  scale;  and  (5)  salaries  based  primarily  on  training 
and  service.  We  shall  consider  each  of  these  in  order. 

jf.  Graded  salaries  based  on  tenure  or  position. 

In  its  simplest  form  this  type  of  salary  schedule  is  based 
on  service  only,  and  is  well-illustrated  by  the  following  very 
simple  salary  schedule,  adopted  in  1919  by  a  small  western 
city. 


25S 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


Years  of  teaching  experience 

Annual 
salary 

Fixed 

Must  have  been 

yearly 

Total 

in  the  city 
employing 

increment 

salary 

1 

_ 

— 

$1100 

2 

•— 

$  50 

1150 

3 

— 

110 

1260 

4 

1 

60 

1320 

5 

2 

80 

1400 

6 

3 

100 

1500 

This  type  of  salary  schedule  is  also  frequently  combined 
with  different  rates  of  pay  for  the  different  grades,  and  often 
with  different  lengths  of  time  for  which  the  annual  incre- 
ments are  given  and  hence  different  maximum  levels.  It  is 
usual,  also,  to  have  a  different  salary  schedule  for  the  high- 
school  teachers.  This  is  illustrated  quite  well  by  the  follow- 
ing salary  schedule,  recently  adopted  by  one  of  our  medium- 
sized  eastern  cities:  — 


Teaching  position 

Beginning 
salary 

Yearly 
increase 

Years  to  reach 
maximum 

Maximum 
for  position 

Grades  1  and  2 

Kindergarten  &  gr.  3. . 
Grades  4  to  6 

$800 
750 
800 
850 
900 

1000 

$50 
50 
50 
60 

75 
100 

4 
5 
6 
6 
6 
5 

$1000 
1000 
1100       ^ 

Grade  7       

1210 

Grade  8     

1350 

High  School 

1500 

Another  of  our  medium-sized  cities  illustrates  the  same 
idea,  except  that  all  teachers  here  start  at  the  same  minimum 
salary  and  advance  at  the  same  rate,  but  in  the  higher  grades 
the  yearly  additions  keep  up  for  a  longer  time,  and  these 
grades,  in  consequence,  carry  a  higher  maximum  salary.  The 
following  salary  schedule  for  an  eastern  city  illustrates  this 
plan:  — 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS 


259 


Teaching  position 

Beginning 
salary 

Yearly 
increase 

Years  to  reach 
maximum 

Maximum 
for  position 

Grades  1  and  2 

Grades  3  and  4 

Grades  5  and  6 

Grade  7 

$800 
800 
800 
800 
800 
800 

$40 
40 
40 
40 
40 
40 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

15 

$1080 
1120 
1160 
1200 

Grade  8 

1240 

High  School 

1400 

Defects  of  such  schedules.  The  trouble  with  all  such 
graded  salary  plans  is  that  they  are  wholly  artificial,  they 
are  not  based  on  sound  administrative  principles,  and  they 
do  not  comply  with  the  essential  features  of  a  good  salary 
schedule,  as  stated  on  page  268. 

In  part  they  are  based  on  the  old  idea  that  "any  one  can 
teach  little  children,"  a  conception  entirely  abandoned  by 
progressive  cities,  and  forbidden  by  law  in  some  of  our 
States.  1  They  also  violate  a  fundamental  principle  of  a  good 
salary  schedule,  namely,  that  a  salary  schedule  should  be 
so  arranged  as  to  permit  of  the  assignment  of  every  teacher 
to  that  position  or  kind  of  work  which  he  or  she  can  best  do, 
without  having  first  to  consider  the  salary  attached  to  the 
position.  As  we  shall  point  out,  further  on  under  (5),  this 
is  seldom  possible  to  the  full  in  our  American  cities,  but  it 
ought  to  be  possible  in  each  division  of  the  school  system,  at 
least. 

There  are  only  a  few  forms  of  salary  grants  based  on  po- 
sition, for  elementary-school  teachers,  which  are  free  from 
such  objection.  The  designation  of  a  few  superior  teachers 
as  special  training  or  demonstration  teachers,  for  those  in 
need  of  special  assistance,  as  was  indicated  in  Chapter  XV; 

1  For  example,  the  California  School  Code,  Sec.  1687,  provides:  "In 
all  schools  having  more  than  two  teachers,  beginners  shall  be  taught  by 
teachers  who  have  had  at  least  two  years'  experience,  or  be  normal  school 
graduates;  and  in  cities  such  teachers  shall  rank,  in  point  of  salary,  with 
those  of  the  assistant  teachers  in  the  highest  grade  in  the  grammar  schools/* 


260  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

teachers  of  special  classes,  demanding  niore  than  ordinary 
classroom  skill;  and  teachers  in  the  upper  grades,  when  a 
departmental  plan  of  instruction  is  in  use  and  extra  and 
special  preparation  is  required  for  the  service,  may  with  pro- 
priety be  singled  out  for  such  extra  salary  grants. 

2.  Salary  grants  based  on  grades  in  the  service. 

Salary  grants  based  on  the  establishment  of  grades  in  the 
teaching  service  may  be  divided  into  two  classes:  (a)  Where 
advance  from  grade  to  grade  is  based  on  estimated  class- 
room efficiency  and  the  recommendation  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  schools;  and  (b)  where  teachers  must  present  evi- 
dence of  professional  growth,  by  certain  examinations,  as  a 
prerequisite  to  such  promotion  in  salary. 

Promotions  on  recommendation.  The  simplest  example 
of  the  first  is  found  in  the  case  of  high-school  teachers.  The 
beginning  teacher  enters  the  work  with  the  rank  of  assistant 
or  teacher,  is  later  promoted  to  the  rank  of  instructor  or  sub- 
head of  a  department,  and  still  later  may  be  promoted  to 
the  rank  and  position  of  head  of  a  department,  each  of  which 
grades  carries  with  it  certain  automatic  salary  increases. 

In  one  of  our  larger  cities,  which  has  an  automatic  salary 
schedule  covering  a  long  period  of  years,  and  applying  to  both 
elementary-school  and  secondary-school  teachers,  two  halts 
are  made  in  the  automatic  increases  of  each.  These  are  so 
placed  as  to  divide  the  period  into  three  approximately  equal 
parts,  and  at  these  halts  increases  in  salaries  do  not  proceed 
"unless  and  until  the  service  of  the  teacher  shall  have  been 
approved,  after  inspection  and  investigation,  as  fit  and  mer- 
itorious by  a  majority  of  the  board  of  superintendents." 

It  would  be  possible  to  work  out  a  salary  schedule  for 
elementary-school  teachers,  patterned  after  that  of  second- 
ary-school teachers,  and  dividing  elementary-school  teach- 
ers into  a  number  of  ranks  or  classes,  with  promotion  from 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS 


261 


one  to  the  other  on  the  specific  recommendation  of  the 
superintendent,  such  based,  in  turn,  on  careful  estimates 
as  to  growth  and  efficiency.  Within  each  rank  there  would 
be  automatic  increases,  but  teachers  might  rest  tempo- 
rarily or  permanently  at  the  maximum  of  any  rank.^  The 
following  will  illustrate  such  a  plan,  eighteen  years  being 
required  to  reach  the  maximum  salary:  — 


Class 

Period  qf 

Beginning 

Yearly 

Years  to 

Maximum  saU 

appointment 

salary 

increase 

maximum 

ary  Jor  class 

1.  Probationary 

teachers 

Annual 

$900 

$50 

3 

$1000 

2.  Three-year 

teachers 

3  years 

1050 

50 

3 

1150 

3.  Five-year 

teachers 

5  years 

1200 

50 

5 

1400 

4.  Permanent 

teachers 

Until 

(50 

l25 

\t 

(1600 
11800 

retired 

1450 

At  the  end  of  the  period  of  appointment  for  classes  two  and  three,  teachers  may  be  pro- 
moted, given  a  second  appointment  in  the  same  class  at  the  maximum  salary  of  this  class,  or 
given  notice  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  board  of  education  to  terminate  the  contract. 

For  promotion  from  class  two  to  class  three,  a  year  of  study  under  direction  will  ordinarily  be 
required,  but  such  may  be  granted  in  special  cases  on  the  basis  of  superior  merit. 

Class  four  reserved  for  teachers  of  superior  merit  only. 

Promotional  Examinations.  The  second  class  of  advances 
by  grades  requires  the  passing  of  some  form  of  promotional 
examination,  as  a  prerequisite  to  promotion  from  one  grade 
to  another  or  for  eligibility  to  certain  types  of  positions. 
There  is  no  uniformity  in  procedure  in  this  respect.  This 
plan  has  been  followed  by  a  number  of  our  larger  cities, 
notably  Baltimore,  Boston,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Kansas 
City,  Lincoln,  New  York  City,  Paterson,  Saginaw,  Spring- 

^  That  is  what  takes  place  in  every  universitj^ .  Some  men  are  never  pro- 
moted beyond  the  rank  of  assistant  professor;  many  never  beyond  the 
grade  of  associate  professor;  though  the  more  energetic  and  capable  can 
usually  count  on  reaching  the  grade  and  pay  of  professor  by  about  the  age 
of  forty. 


262  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

field  (Ohio),  and  Washington.^  The  nature  of  the  examina- 
tions has  varied  with  the  different  cities,  being  more  aca- 
demic in  some  and  more  strictly  professional  in  others.  In 
Baltimore,  for  example,  where  the  promotional  examina- 
tions were  simple  in  nature  and  closely  applicable  to  the 
work  of  instruction,  the  first  examination  was  based  on  the 
use  of  English,  and  the  second  on  a  year's  study  of  some 
special  schoolroom  problem.^  A  number  of  the  cities  requir- 
ing promotional  examinations  accept  summer-school  or 
extension-class  work  as  satisfying  all  or  part  of  the  exam- 
ination requirements. 

The  promotional  examination  idea  has  been  accepted 
heartily  in  some  cities,  while  in  others  it  has  caused  much 
bitter  feeling.  The  plan,  in  so  far  as  it  gets  teachers  inter- 
ested in  attending  summer  sessions  or  extension  courses,  or 
awakens  an  interest  in  the  study  of  classroom  problems  and 
leads  to  reading  and  study,  undoubtedly  serves  a  good  pur- 
pose. On  the  other  hand,  the  plan,  as  sometimes  used,  is 
open  to  certain  objections.  Study  during  the  time  the 
schools  are  in  session,  if  heavy  in  amount  or  unrelated  to 
school  work,  may  be  done  at  the  expense  of  efficient  in- 
struction, and  undoubtedly  is  so  done  m  some  cases.  Again, 
percentages  obtained  in  the  written  examinations  do  not 
necessarily  bear  any  relation  to  actual  or  future  efficiency 
in  classroom  instruction.  In  principle,  though,  the  promo- 
tional examination  is  capable  of  limited  application  in  the 
framing  of  a  scheme  for  promoting  teachers  on  a  merit 

1  See  Ruediger's  Agencies  for  the  Improvement  of  Teachers  in  Service^ 
pp.  117-37,  for  a  description  of  the  plans  followed  in  each  of  these  cities. 

2  Baltimore  has  often  been  cited  as  a  place  where  promotional  examina- 
tions failed,  but  the  lack  of  any  marked  success  there  was  doubtless  due 
much  more  to  the  very  low  salaries  paid  teachers  (minimum,  $444;  maxi- 
mum, $700)  than  to  the  promotional  plan  itself.  Had  there  first  been  a 
flat  raise  of  25  to  30  per  cent,  and  then  promotional  examinations  instituted 
for  further  increases,  it  is  probable  that  little  opposition  of  consequence 
would  have  been  made  to  the  plan. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS  263 

basis.  Its  chief  use  is  as  one  of  a  number  of  bases  for  esti- 
mating growth  and  professional  efficiency. 

3.  Additional  salary  grants  for  study. 

This  is  a  relatively  simple  and  easy  method  for  granting 
salary  advances,  though  it  is  not  extensively  used  alone. 
Under  it  a  uniform  salary  schedule  for  all  can  be  followed, 
and  then  additional  salary  grants  can  be  made  for  evidence 
of  additional  approved  study.  ^  An  example  of  this  method 
of  handhng  salary  increases  will  be  found  in  the  suggestions 
made  at  the  close  of  Chapter  V  of  the  Report  of  the  Survey 
of  the  Public  School  System  of  Portland,  Oregon.  Summer 
schools,  years  of  study  in  colleges  and  universities,  and 
travel  and  study  in  Europe  were  all  suggested  there  as  bases 
for  salary  increases,  beyond  a  common  maximum. 

The  chief  objection  to  such  a  plan  is  that,  under  ordinary 
salary  conditions,  many  of  the  most  promising  of  the  teach- 
ers do  not  feel  that  they  can  afford  the  expense  involved  in 
such  study,  and  they  of  course  receive  no  additional  salary 
grants  in  consequence.  The  plan,  while  rewarding  the  more 
energetic,  does  not  in  itself  bear  any  close  relation  to  school- 
room efficiency. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  small  added  grant  for  summer  study 
is  merely  a  little  help  toward  paying  the  expenses  incurred, 
whereas  the  teacher  ought  to  be  a  better  teacher  for  some 
time  by  reason  of  the  change  and  the  new  intellectual  ideas 
and  contacts,  and  such  grants  can  hardly  be  considered  as 
other  than  a  good  investment  for  the  school  board.  Similarly 
leaves  of  absence,  especially  Sabbatical  leaves,  ought  to  be 
encouraged  by  the  school  board,  as  a  periodical  leave  for 

^  Rochester,  for  example,  in  1913,  provided  that  fifty  dollars  be  added 
to  the  salary  of  the  person  who  pursues  courses  in  institutions  outside  of 
Rochester,  and  twenty-five  dollars  if  in  institutions  within  the  city,  when 
approved  by  the  superintendent  of  schools.  Baltimore  also  offered  added 
salary  for  summer-school  study. 


g64  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

travel  and  study  is  worth  much  as  an  impetus  to  further 
growth.  Perhaps  the  plan  does  reward  the  more  energetic 
and  the  more  capable,  and  perhaps  also  these  are  the  ones 
who  ought  most  to  be  aided  and  encouraged  with  a  view  to 
retaining  their  services  in  the  school  system. 

^.  Salary  grants  based  on  efficiency. 

This  is  the  most  important  and  at  the  same  time  the 
most  difficult  to  carry  out  of  all  the  different  plans  for  pay- 
ing teachers  somewhat  in  proportion  to  their  growth  and 
personal  efficiency.  It  has  been  tried  in  a  number  of  places, 
but  not  always  with  the  most  satisfactory  results.  In  its 
essentials  it  consists  of  a  carefully  formed  judgment  by  a 
supervisory  officer  —  often  the  combined  judgment  of  a 
number  of  supervisory  officers  —  as  to  each  teacher's  effi- 
ciency for  the  work  required  by  the  schools,  and  on  the 
basis  of  such  report,  usually  filed  in  writing,  salary  in- 
creases are  granted  and  promotions  are  made.  In  principle, 
this  basis  has  been  used  by  cities  for  a  long  time,  but  in  its 
modified  development  the  idea  is  relatively  recent. 

Criticism  of  the  plan.  If  the  scoring  is  done  carefully  and 
with  good  judgment,  and  covers  a  sufficient  number  of 
points,  it  is  likely  to  produce  a  very  good  estimate  as  to 
the  relative  efficiency  of  the  teacher.  The  great  trouble 
encountered  is  that  the  teacher  who  is  marked  low  usually 
feels  that  she  has  been  marked  unfairly,  and  with  some  of 
the  plans  in  use  it  is  hard  to  prove  that  she  is  wrong.  In  the 
end  it  tends  to  fall  back  largely  on  the  reliability  of  the 
personal  judgment  of  some  person  or  persons,  and,  in  the 
present  status  of  the  supervision  of  instruction  in  our  Ameri- 
can cities,  this  is  its  weak  point.  It  is  rather  easy  for  teachers 
to  claim,  and  with  some  degree  of  truth,  that  the  principal 
was  not  competent,  or  that  the  assistant  superintendent  or 
the  superintendent  was  not  closely  enough  in  touch  with 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS  265 

the  work  of  the  teacher  to  enable  either  of  them  to  appre- 
ciate and  evaluate  the  work  which  was  being  done.  When 
boards  of  education  accept  the  judgment  of  such  officers, 
as  they  must  almost  of  necessity  do,  a  sense  of  injustice 
often  remains  which  breeds  discontent  among  a  teaching 
force.  It  requires  the  use  of  a  good  form  of  close  and  capa- 
ble supervision,  and  helpful  frankness  in  dealing  with 
teachers,  to  secure  good  results  from  such  a  plan. 

Plan  right  in  principle.  On  the  other  hand,  the  plan  is 
strictly  in  accord  with  principles  of  educational  efficiency 
and  economy.  It  is  notorious  that  in  most  of  our  cities  some 
of  the  poorest  teachers  in  the  service  are  those  drawing  the 
largest  salaries.^  The  number  of  such  may  not  be  large,  but 
this  condition  does  exist  almost  everywhere.  It  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  teachers,  after  some  years  of  growth,  or  with  the 
maximum  salary  attained,  to  settle  down  slowly  into  a  sure 
and  comfortable  position,  do  their  work  in  a  more  or  less 
perfunctory  manner,  and  make  no  further  efforts  toward 
any  increase  in  personal  efficiency.  The  result  is  that,  with 
the  rapid  advance  in  both  the  theory  and  practice  of  educa- 
tion, they  are  gradually  left  behind.  Such  teachers  are 
almost  always  surprised  and  indignant  at  any  questioning 
of  their  efficiency,  and  are  often  leaders  in  efforts  to  prevent 
the  introduction  of  efficiency  estimates.  To  dismiss  them,  if 
they  have  been  a  long  time  in  the  service,  is  practically  im- 
possible, and  a  salary  schedule,  based  in  part  on  estimated  or 
calculated  efficiency,  is  about  the  only  way  to  reach  them. 

Such  a  salary  schedule  has  the  double  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  younger  teachers  from  falling  into  such  a  condi- 
tion, and  the  continual  stimulation  of  all  teachers  to  efforts 
at  personal  improvement.  The  plan  is  in  harmony  with  all 
principles  underlying  efficiency  in  the  public  service,  and  is 

1  See,  for  example,  the  ten  teachers  described  in  the  Portland  Report, 
previously  cited,  on  page  256. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


GENERAL  RATING 

=r 

1  1  1 

MM  i-n 

ItllXlo 

TT 

QoAirriM  o»  Mnrr 

?s; 

Poor 

McDim 

Cooo    . 

Ex. 

J.  Personal  Equipment— 

1.  General  appearance. ... , 

^ 

n 

. 

0 

1.  Health „ 

,.- 

X" 

n 

d 

3.  Voice...., - 

X^ 

n 

0 

4.  InteUedual  capacity 

,^ 

5.  InitUtJve  and  self-reliance 

?< 

ric 

■ 

" 

6.  AdaptabiUty  and  resouicefulnest. 

Ho 

"■ 

~ 

n 

X 

0 

H 

0 

9.  Enthusiasm  and  optimism I 

>^ 

n 

0 

P? 

0 

X 

E3 

i 

ntt 

0 

14.  Sense  of  Justice 

A 

0 

a 

n.  Socicl  and  Professional  Equipmmt— 

IS 

a 

0 

XI 

X 

□ 

0 

4.  Undentanding  of  children 

c 

0 

?< 

S.  School  and  commuftity  interest 

jg 

0 

6.  Ability  to  meet  and  interest  parents. . 

;< 

a 

0 

7.  Interest  In  lives  of  pupils. 

K 

C3 

0 

1 

Q 

9.  Professional  interest  and  growth 

JO.  Daily  prepatation 

11.  Use  of  English 

X 

^.  School  Management— 

''          I.  Care  o(  light,  heat,  and  ventilation. . 

a 

X 

0 

X 

0 

K 

4.  Discipline  (governing  skilO 

- 

X 

0 

IV.  Technique  of  Teaching— 

1   De&niteness  and  clearness  o(  afan 

rt 

<^ 

□ 

0 

X 

Q 

X 

d 

M 

0 

S.  Skill  in  questioning 

D 

D 

3 

^ 

■ 

?c 

D 

0 

to  Attention  to  individual  needs       . 

. 

X 

0 

0 

v.  Results^ 

0 

« 

a   Growth  of  pupils  in  subject-matter,, ,. 

1^ 

0 

- 

4     <;nrint  A^v^}nr,m^T,t  at  niinilq 

X 

^ 

s 

0 

S   Moral  Influence 

^ 

a 

0 

I 

[ 

L 

_ 

1 

[ 

[ 

[ 

, 1 

L 





I 

L 

\ 

Fig.  17x.    A  TEACHER-EFFICIENCY  SCORE   CARD 

[Reprinted  from  J.  B.  Sears'  Classroom  Organization  and  Control,  p.  254. 

Superintendent  D  ;  Principal  X ;  Supervisor  O. 

This  card  shows  the  rating  of  a  good  teacher  by  three  supervisory  ofHcers,  and  is  in  effect  a 
consolidated  score.  Another  plan  of  using  the  card  would  be  for  each  to  indicate  rating  by 
dots,  and  then  to  connect  the  dots  by  lines,  using  different  colored  ink  for  each  rating. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS  267 

also  in  harmony  with  one  of  the  fundamental  principles 
which  should  control  in  the  construction  of  a  salary  sched- 
ule, namely,  that  it  should  be  such  as  to  stimulate  industry,- 
encourage  individual  improvement,  and  reward  exceptional 
merit.  With  the  increasing  demands  of  superintendents 
generally  for  more  money  for  teachers'  salaries,  the  public 
may  be  expected,  in  turn,  to  begin  to  demand  that  super- 
intendents and  school  boards  produce  evidence  that  the 
money  which  Jias  been  given  them  has  been  so  used  as  to 
secure  the  most  efficient  service.  -  , 

Type  plans  for  estimating  efficiency.  A  number  of  cities 
have  introducecl  some  forrh  of  efficiency  estimates,  and  have 
evolved  schedule  forms  for'  scoring  the  efficiency  of  their 
teachers.  Maryland  and  Indiana  require  such  schedule 
forms  to  be  filed  yearly  for  all  teachers  in  the  State,  such 
being  known  as  the  teacher's  success  grades,  and  the  salaries 
paid  must  be  based,  in  part,  on  the  success  grades  granted.^ 

These  forms  are  of  two  types,  the  one  for  confidential  use, 
and  the  other  for  open  use  with  teachers. 

The  Decatur,^  Illinois,^  form  represents  a  good  type  of 
those  intended  for  confidential  markings,  for  the  use  of  the 
superintendent  of  schools.  With  it  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  estimate  and  evaluate  teachers  on :  — 

1.  Physical  aspect  of  school.  6.  Attitude  toward  pupils. 

2.  Teacher's  personality.  7.  Discipline  and  control. 
S.  Adaptability.  8.  Teaching  skill. 

4.  Loyalty  to  school  policies  9.  Professional  interests. 

5.  Spirit  of  cooperation.  10.  General  impression. 

*  In  the  author's  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization,  Appendix 
F,  will  be  found  a  copy  of  the  Indiana  forms,  together  with  a  form  devised 
by  Professor  E.  C.  Elliott,  formerly  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  A 
number  of  other  forms  are  now  in  use  in  different  cities. 

^  See  Ruediger's  Agencies  for  the  Improvement  of  Teachers  in  Service, 
pp.  139-41.  Ruediger  also  reproduces  forms  used  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri; 
Lincoln,  Nebraska;  and  Washington,  D.C.  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  and 
Sacramento,  California,  have  also  evolved  good  forms. 


267a  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Three  different  persons  usually  scored  each  teacher,  and  the  , 
markings  were  combined  by  the  superintendent  as  a  com- 
posite estimate. 

Professor  Elliott,  then  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  at- 
tempted, on  the  other  hand,  to  devise  a  form  by  means  of 
which  teachers  may  measure  their  own  efficiency,  and  over 
which  supervisors  may  confer  with  teachers  in  an  effort  not 
only  to  scale  them,  but  especially  in  an  effort  to  help  them. 
His  form  is  not  primarily  intended  as  a  score  card  for  the 
use  of  inspectors.  As  to  its  use,  he  lays  down  the  following 
general  propositions:^ 

1.  Does  not  the  general  betterment  of  educational  achievement 
finally  depend  upon  (a)  the  analysis  of  the  complex  teaching 
process  into  its  essential,  constituent  elements  j  and  (6)  the 
recognition  and  possession  by  teachers  of  the  qualities  and 
capacities  upon  which  these  elements  are  grounded? 

2.  Is  it  not  possible  to  devise  and  to  apply  to  the  teaching  proc- 
ess impersonal,  objecitive  standards  of  value  whereby  the 
relative  worth  and  efficiency  of  teachers  may  be  determined 
more  justly  and  with  greater  precision  than  under  the  pre- 
vailing  practices? 

3.  As  fundamental  conditions  for  the  cumulative  improvement 
of  teaching,  and  for  the  greater  effectiveness  of  school  organ- 
ization, should  not  teachers  (a)  be  encouraged  and  trained  to 
determine  their  own  professional  worth  in  accordance  with 
standards  mutually  agreed  upon  by  teachers  and  supervisors; 
{b)  receive  the  benefits  of  direct,  constructive  criticism,  and 
the  stimulation  of  continuous,  skillful,  personal,  non-interfer- 
ing supervision;  and  (c)  claim  exemption  ftom  snap  measure- 
ments of  their  merit  based  upon  casual  visitation  and  inter- 
mittent inspection,  and  from  the  unsupported,  arbitrary 
judgment  of  superiors? 

4.  Does  not  the  economical  improvement  of  the  products  of 
public  education  require  that  the  conditions  and  results  of 
the  teacher's  work  be  tested  by  methods  of  an  objective, 
quantitative  character  rather  than  by  the  judgments  of  a 
subjective,  qualitative  nature? 

^  Provisional  plan  for  the  Measurement  of  Merit  of  Teachers,  p.  1. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS       267b 

Rochester,  New  York,  is  representative  of  what  may  be 
called  a  third  plan,  in  that  all  judgments  as  to  the  prepara- 
tion and  efficiency  of  teachers,  made  by  the  first  of  the  above 
methods,  are  further  combined  with  tests,  made  at  inter- 
vals and  using  standard  test  forms,  as  to  the  results  of 
classroom  instruction,  and  these  are  further  combined  with 
promotion  records  and  other  data  collected  by  the  bureau 
of  efficiency  of  the  school  department.  The  principle  fol- 
lowed here  is  that  a  combination  of  three  different  kinds  of 
measures  is  far  more  reliable  than  one  alone.  With  the  per- 
fection of  intelligence-measuring  scales,  and  their  some- 
what general  introduction  into  school  work  for  diagnostic 
purposes,  and  with  the  more  general  provision  for  efficiency 
experts  and  clinical  psychologists  in  connection  with  school 
systems,  this  method  is  likely  to  be  adopted  somewhat  gener- 
ally by  cities  interested  in  obtaining  the  best  results  in  their 
schools.  It  possesses  certain  obvious  advantages  over  the  or- 
dinary personal-judgment  plan  for  rating  teaching  efficiency. 

Incentives  to  growth.  In  any  line  of  work  the  intensity 
of  the  desire  for  personal  improvement  is  in  direct  propor- 
tion to  the  stimulus  it  receives.  A  physician,  a  lawyer,  or 
an  engineer  who  lacks  in  professional  knowledge  finds  him- 
self unable  to  undertake  important  cases,  and  increases  his 
professional  equipment  in  order  that  he  may  do  better  work 
and  command  larger  pay.  These  professions  being  on  a 
competitive  basis,  what  a  man  can  earn  in  them  depends 
upon  what  he  can  convince  others  that  he  is  worth.  Teach- 
ing, on  the  other  hand,  is  virtually  a  state  monopoly,  into 
which  competitive  conditions  enter  but  slightly.  All  begin 
at  about  the  same  level,  often  all  are  advanced  in  pay  at 
about  the  same  rate,  and  usually  all  reach  the  maximum 
salary  very  early  in  their  teaching  career. 

A  teacher  is  no  exception  to  the  rule  that  most  people  do 
their  best  work  when  under  a  constant  stimulus  to  profes- 


267c  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

sional  activity.  This  stimulus,  too,  needs  to  be  kept  up 
for  a  rather  long  period  of  time,  until  the  habit  of  keeping 
professionally  active  has  been  well  established.  A  salary 
schedule,  based  only  in  part  on  years  of  service,  and  with 
additional  rewards  for  growth  and  efficiency  after  the 
common  maximum  has  been  reached,  offers  one  of  the  best 
means  for  providing  the  proper  stimulus  for  further  profes- 
sional growth.  The  institution  of  a  salary  schedule  for  ele- 
mentary-school teachers  as  well  as  for  secondary-school 
teachers,  based  in  part  upon  merit,  may  not  be  particularly 
easy  of  accomplishment,  but  it  seems  probable  that  in  time 
the  public  will  demand  its  institution  as  evidence  that  the 
money  it  grants  for  annual  maintenance  is  wisely  expended. 

5.  Salaries  based  on  training  and  service. 

Within  recent  years,  with  the  marked  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  normal-trained  and  college  educated  teachers  entering 
the  work  of  our  city  schools,  and  with  the  marked  increase 
in  the  cost  of  living,  there  has  been  a  tendency  toward  the 
introduction  of  a  type  of  salary  schedule  which  places  rec- 
ognition on  training  and  experience  as  the  two  main  factors 
to  be  considered.  Applied  to  a  school  system  as  a  whole, 
such  a  plan  would  also  abolish  salary  differences,  given 
equal  training  and  experience,  between  teachers  in  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  a  school  system.  Theoretically  this  might  be 
desirable,  as  a  large  degree  of  flexibility  which  will  permit  of 
the  adjustment  of  teachers  to  position  is  a  desideratum,  but 
practically,  in  most  school  systems  and  in  the  present  stage 
of  teacher  training  and  conditions  of  city  finance,  the  plan 
offers  certain  practical  difficulties  of  a  very  formidable  type. 

A  salary  schedule  constructed  on  this  combined  basis 
would,  in  its  simplest  form,  be  somewhat  as  follows,  assume 
ing  increments  of  $150  for  each  year  of  additional  scholar^ 
ship  and  $60  for  each  year  of  added  service  as  a  teacher:  — ^ 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS       267d 


Years  of  approved  training 

beyond  completion  of  a 

four-year  high  school  course 

Beginning  salary 
in  school  system, 
for  all  teachers 

Uniform 
yearly  incre- 
ment for  service 

Years  this 

payable 

for 

Maximum 

salary 
attainable 

Graduate  of  high  school 
only 

$850 
1000 
1150 
1300 
1450 
1600 
1750 
1900 

$60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 

10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 

$1450 
1600 

One  year's  additional 
training 

Two  years'  additional 
training 

1750 

Three  years'  additional 
training 

1900 

Four  years'  additional 
training  (A.B) 

Five  years'  additional 
training  (A.M) 

Six  years'  additional 
training 

2050 
2200 
2350 

Seven  years'  additional 
training  (Ph.D) 

2500 

Cities  might  begin  only  with  two-year  normal- trained  teachers,  in  which  case  the  schedule 
would  begin  with  $1150,  on  the  third  line. 

In  the  simple  form  above  given  it  will  be  seen  that  this  type  of  salary  schedule  eliminates 
all  questions  of  merit  and  efficiency. 

This  type  of  salary  schedule  could,  though,  easily  be  com- 
bined with  some  form  of  an  efficiency  rating.  One  plan  would 
be  to  institute  one  or  two  "halts"  in  the  automatic  increases, 
as  described  on  pages  260-61.  These  might  come  at  the 
end  of  the  third  or  fourth  year,  and  the  end  of  the  seventh 
year.  Teachers  attaining  a  rating  equivalent  to  "good" 
would  pass  the  first  "halt,"  but  only  teachers  rated  as  "very 
good"  would  be  advanced  beyond  the  second  "halt." 

Another  plan  would  be  to  use  an  efficiency  rating  for  all 
teachers,  in  conjunction  with  the  above  plan,  there  being  an 
annual  classification  of  teachers  before  awarding  the  auto- 
matic increases.  For  example,  on  the  basis  of  combined 
supervisory  ratings  all  teachers  might  be  classified  into  the 
following  groups: 

(a)  Teachers  who  are  entirely  satisfactory. 

(6)  Teachers  whose  work  is  not  entirely  satisfactory,  but  who 
have  made  an  earnest  effort  to  improve  and  who  give  pro- 
mise sufficient  to  warrant  their  retention. 


568  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

(c)  Teachers  whose  work  and  attitude  are  so  unsatisfactory  and 
whose  promise  is  so  small  as  not  to  warrant  their  retention. 

Teachers  in  group  (a)  would  be  given  the  automatic 
advances  without  question;  those  in  group  (b)  might  or 
might  not  receive  such,  as  seemed  best  to  the  superin- 
tendent, board,  or  a  committee  in  charge;  while  group  (c) 
would  not  be  advanced  in  salary  even  should  circumstances 
compel  their  temporary  retention. 

6.  Essential  features  of  a  good  salary  schedule. 
Summarizing  the  preceding  discussion,  the  essential  fea- 
tures of  a  good  salary  schedule  for  teachers  may  then  be 
stated  to  be  about  as  follows :  — 

1.  A  high  enough  beginning  salary  to  enable  the  city  to  secure 
well-trained  and  well-educated  teachers  for  the  service. 

2.  Small  automatic  annual  salary  increases  for  a  period  of  years, 
say  five  to  seven  years,  during  which  time  the  teacher  is 
gaining  competency  and  reaching  a  point  beyond  which  in- 
crease in  teaching  eflSciency  is  usually  small  without  further 
professional  preparation.  This  common  maximum  should 
represent  a  living  wage  for  a  person  with  the  habits,  in- 
stincts, and  training  of  a  teacher. 

S.  Provision  whereby  experienced  teachers  from  elsewhere  may 
be  taken  into  the  system,  and  started  at  some  point  in  the 
scale  above  that  of  beginning  teachers. 

4.  Further  salary  increases,  beyond  the  common  maximum,  to 
progressive  and  capable  teachers,  the  basis  for  such  payments 
being  so  arranged  as  to  stimulate  industry,  encourage  in- 
dividual improvement,  and  reward  exceptional  merit. 

5.  Such  an  arrangement  of  salaries  as  will  permit  of  the  assign- 
ment of  every  teacher  to  that  position  or  kind  of  work  which 
he  or  she  can  do  best,  without  first  considering  the  salary 
of  the  position  to  which  the  teacher  is  to  be  assigned. 

6.  Special  salaries  may,  however,  be  attached  to  positions  call- 
ing for  special  capacity,  such  as  demonstration  teachers,  or 
teachers  of  unruly  or  incorrigible  pupils,  to  which  speciallv 
capable  teachers  may  be  assigned. 

7.  Grades  in  the  elementary-school  service,  analogous  to  those 
commonly  found  in  the  secondary-school  service,  could  with 
entire  propriety  be  created,  with  automatic  increases  in  sal- 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS         269 

ary  within  the  grade  until  the  maximum  for  the  grade  has 
been  reached. 

8.  For  promotion  from  one  grade  to  another,  after  the  proba- 
tionary grade,  evidence  of  professional  growth  and  high 
classroom  efficiency  should,  in  general,  be  required. 

9.  For  such  evidence,  private  study  with  local  promotional 
examinations,  or  approved  summer-school  or  other  collegiate 
study,  may  be  accepted  for  professional  growth;  the  high 
classroom  efficiency  should  be  determined  by  as  large  a 
combination  of  tests  of  different  types,  given  by  different 
individuals,  as  is  feasible.  Better  results  will  probably  be 
obtained  if  the  results  of  all  scoring  and  tests  are  open  to 
the  inspection  of  the  teacher  concerned. 

10.  The  maxima  attainable  for  teachers  who  remain  in  the  work 
and  make  teaching  a  professional  career  should  be  relatively 
large,  —  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  times  the  beginning 
salary  for  the  same  class  of  work;  but  such  maxima  should 
not  be  attainable  under  about  fifteen  to  eighteen  years  of 
service,  nor  without  proper  evidence  of  professional  pro- 
ficiency. Those  who  make  teaching  a  temporary  employ- 
ment should  not  advance  much  beyond  the  common  maxi- 
mum for  all  teachers. 

11.  There  should  also  be  provision  for  a  pension  system,  or  for  the 
placing  of  teachers  in  subordinate  teaching  or  clerical  posi- 
tions, and  at  lower  pay,  who,  by  reason  of  age,  have  outlived 
their  usefulness  as  classroom  teachers,  so  that  those  who  have 
rendered  faithful  service  but  who,  due  to  age  or  disease,  are 
no  longer  efficient,  can  be  retired  for  the  good  of  the  schools. 
Of  the  two  plans  the  pension  system  is  preferable,  though  the 
other  has  a  certain  usefulness. 

QUESTIONS   FOR   DISCUSSION 

1.  What  advantage  does  a  city,  located  in  a  low-salary  and  low-standard 
State,  have  in  the  retention  of  its  own  certificating  machinery?  If 
salaries  and  standards  were  high,  what  advantage  would  there  be  in 
dispensing  with  it? 

2.  Is  it  safe  to  institute  a  payment-on-merit  plan  when  the  general  level 
of  salaries  is  quite  low?   Why? 

3.  What  would  be  reasonable  minima  and  common  maxima  for  elemen- 
tary-school and  high-school  teachers  in  city  systems  in  your  State? 

4.  How  do  you  account  for  the  greater  sensitiveness  of  elementary- 
school  teachers  to  discrimination  between  teachers  on  the  basis  of 
efiBciency  than  is  the  case  with  high-school  teachers? 


270  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

5.  Why  is  it  desirable  to  postpone  the  highest  possible  maximum  salary 
for  quite  a  number  of  years? 

6.  Assuming  that  you  thought  it  wise  to  give  additional  salary  grants 
for  further  study,  how  much  would  you  add  to  the  yearly  salary  of  a 
teacher  who  attended:  — 

(a)  A  summer  session  in  a  state  normal  school? 

(6)  A  summer  session  in  a  university? 

(c)  Spent  a  year  in  further  study,  after  some  years  of  teaching? 

7.  What  restrictions  would  you  throw  around  such  grants? 

8.  Would  such  a  plan  of  grading  and  appointing  and  paying  teachers  as 
is  described  on  page  261  be  good  ?   Would  it  be  feasible? 

9.  How  do  you  account  for  the  large  success  of  promotional  examina- 
tions in  Kansas  City,  and  the  bitter  opposition  to  the  plan  in  Balti- 
more? 

10.  Is  the  promotional-examination  idea  capable  of  correlation  with  the 
reading-circle  idea,  as  set  forth  in  the  previous  chapter? 

11.  What  changes  or  additions  would  you  make  in  the  statement  of  the 
essential  features  of  a  good  salary  schedule? 

12.  Why  is  it  difficult  to  raise  the  salaries  of  teachers  in  a  city  up  to 
the  level  of  salaries  paid  in  other  branches  of  the  city  service  ? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Compare  the  plans  and  forms  used  for  measuring  classroom  efficiency 
in  the  five  cities  described  by  Ruediger  (pp.  139-46),  and  state  which 
is  the  best,  and  why.  Is  the  EUiott  form  an  improvement  over 
these  ? 

2.  Of  the  promotional  examination  plans  described  by  Ruediger  (pp. 
117-39),  which  do  you  consider  the  best,  and  why?  (See  also  Proceed- 
ings  of  National  Education  Association,  1905,  pp.  241-53,  for  a  further 
description  of  plans  in  use.) 

3.  Assume  that  you  are  in  a  city  employing  one  hundred  and  fifty 
teachers,  and  already  paying  relatively  good  salaries,  and  that  you 
could  have  additional  funds  for  advancing  salaries,  if  distributed  on 
a  basis  of  merit.  Draw  up  a  plan  which  will  be  as  fair  as  possible 
to  both  teachers  and  taxpayers,  and  which  will  place  the  maximum 
emphasis  on  training  and  efficiency  in  classroom  work. 

4.  Should  salaries  be  based  on  position,  disregarding  the  sex  of  the 
incumbant?  (This  topic  to  involve  an  examination  and  review  of  the 
recent  discussion  as  to  equal  salaries  for  men  and  women.) 

5.  What  are  the  equities  involved  in  the  matter  of  teachers'  pensions, 
and  what  is  the  best  form  of  a  pension  system  for  teachers  in  the 
public  schools? 

6.  Test  up  the  salary  schedule  of  any  city  you  know  by  the  state- 
ment of  essential  features,  as  given  on  pages  268-69. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS         271 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Bobbitt,  J.  F.  "Results  of  Plans  to  measure  Efficiency  in  Teaching";  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1915. 
A  general  discussion  of  the  problem. 
Boyce,  A.  C.    "A  Method  for  guiding  and  controlling  the  Judging  of 
Teaching  Efficiency";  in  School  Review  Monographs,  no.  vi,  1915, 
pp.  71-82. 

Discusses  the  general  problem  and  illustrates,  by  a  series  of  graphs,  how  teachers' 
qualities  may  be  rated  and  scored.   A  valuable  document. 

Boykin,  J.  C,  and  King,  R.    The  Tangible  Rewards  of  Teaching.   465  pp. 
Bulletin  no.  16,  1914,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
Best  source  for  detailed  statistical  data  as  to  salaries  paid  to  the  several  classes  of 
teachers  and  school  officers  in  the  United  States.      Continued,    for  cities  and  towns 
having  from  2500  to  5000  inhabitants,  in  Bui.  no.  31,  1915. 

Butte,  Montana.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.   (1914.) 

Chapter  VHI  deals  with  the  need  for  further  training  and  salary  schedules. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision. 

Chapter  XVI,  on  salaries,  tenure,  and  certification,  is  a  discussion  of  the  reasons 
why  good  salaries  should  be  paid. 

Clark,  J.  B.  "The  Salaries  of  Teachers";  in  Columbia  University  Quar- 
terly, vol.  I,  pp.  111-22.  (1899.)  Review  of,  in  Educational  Review, 
vol.  17,  pp.  413-14.    (April,  1899.) 

An  excellent  article.  Declares  that  the  question  of  salaries  is  purely  economic,  and 
concludes  that  to  raise  salaries  one  must  raise  the  standard  of  teaching. 

Cooley,  E.  G.  "The  Basis  of  grading  Teachers'  Salaries";  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1907,  pp.  94-101. 

A  good  statement  of  the  reasons  for  insisting  on  an  efficiency  basis  in  paying  public 
school  teachers. 

Cotton,  F.  A.  "How  can  the  Present  Efficiency  of  the  Schools  be  main- 
tained ?  "  In  Cubberley  and  Elliott's  State  and  County  School  Admin- 
istration, vol.  II,  Source  Book,  pp.  607-12.  The  MacmiUan  Co.,  N.Y., 
1915. 

An  address  before  the  state  teachers'  association.  Holds  that  to  increase  salaries 
without  advancing  qualifications  is  not  wise. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization.  The  Mac- 
miUan Co.,  N.Y.,  1914. 

See  Appendix  F  for  the  Elliott  and  Indiana  success-grade  forms  for  estimating  the 
efficiency  of  teachers. 

Davidson,  W.  M.,  and  Blewett,  Ben.  "How  to  measure  the  Efficiency  of 
Teachers";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913^ 
pp.  286-92. 

Two  excellent  papers  on  the  rating  of  teachers  and  the  merit  system  for  salary 
advances. 


272  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  S.  The  Administration  of  Public  Education 
in  the  United  States. 

Chapter  XV,  on  the  Teaching  Staff,  deals  with  salaries,  pensions,  and  teachers' 
organizations. 

Elliott,   E.  C.    "How  shall  the  Merit  of  Teachers  be  tested  and  re- 
corded?" In  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  vol.  1,  pp. 
291-99,     Also  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1915. 
Discusses  the  changing  responsibilities  of  the  superintendent,   and  how  to  meet 
the  change. 

Elliott,  E.  C.  City  School  Supervision.    World  Book  Co.,  N.Y.,  1914. 

Chapter  IX  describes  in  some  detail  the  methods  and  standards  employed  in  rating 
teaching  efficiency  in  New  York  City,  and  Chapter  X  describes  the  methods  employed, 
giving  blanks  used,  in  a  number  of  other  cities.   Good  documentary  chapters. 

Green,  C.  C.    "The  Promotion  of  Teachers  on  the  Basis  of  Merit  and 
Efficiency";  in  School  and  Society,  vol.  i,  pp.  705-09  (May  15, 1915). 
Also  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1915. 
A  good  discussion,  with  outline  of  a  plan. 

Greenwood,  J.  M.  "Experience  in  helping  Teachers  professionally";  in 
Educational  Review,  vol.  30,  pp.  464-73.    (December,  1905.) 

Describes  the  introduction  of  promotional  examinations  for  salary  increases  in 
Kansas  City,  and  the  results  on  the  teaching  force. 

Lowry,  CD.  The  Relation  of  Superintendents  and  Principals  to  the  Train' 
ing  and  Professional  Improvement  of  their  Teachers.  Seventh  Year-Book 
of  the  National  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education,  Part  i. 
66  pp.  1908. 

States  the  problem,  and  then  finds  the  solution  in  the  promotional  examination. 
Describes  plans  in  use  in  a  number  of  cities. 

McAndrew,  Wm.  "Where  Education  breaks  down";  in  Educational  Re- 
view, vol.  33,  pp.  11-23.   (January,  1907.) 

A  very  good  article  on  the  salary  question.    Need  for  salaries  that  will  make  teach- 
ing more  attractive  to  the  best  men  and  women. 

McAndrew,  Wm.  "Some  Suggestions  on  School  Salaries";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  27,  pp.  375-83.   (April,  1904.) 
A  good  sensible  article  on  the  question. 

Maxwell,  Wm.  H.  "Teachers'  Salaries";  in  A  Quarter  of  a  Century  of  Public 
School  Development,  pp.  238-57. 

Good  extracts  from  his  annual  reports,  dealing  with  questions  of  salary  schedules 
and  bases  for  paying  men  and  women. 

Monroe,  Paul.   Cyclopedia  of  Education. 

See  articles  on  "  Teachers,  Promotion  of,"  and  "  Teachers,  Salaries  of,"  for  good 
brief  statements  as  to  existing  conditions  and  practices. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

Chapter  V,  on  the  salaries  of  teachers,  considers  the  possibilities  of  a  partial  merit 
basis,  and  suggests  certain  plans  capable  of  local  application. 


PAY  AND  PROMOTION  OF  TEACHERS         273 

Ruediger,  W.  C.  Agencies  for  the  Improvement  of  Teachers  in  Service.    157 
pp.  Bulletin  no.  3,  1911,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
Good  information  relating  to  promotional  examinations  and  plans  for  measuring  the 
efficiency  of  teachers. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.  324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  IV  deals  with  the  salary  schedule,  and  the  distribution  of  salaries  in  the 
city. 

Small,  W.  H.    "Should  Teachers  be  required  to  present  from  Time  to 
Time  Evidences  of  Increased  Scholarship?"   If  so,  of  what  nature? 
In  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1904,  pp.  326-30. 
Favors  incentives  but  not  requirements.    Discussion  by  Van  Sickle  (pp.  330-32), 
explaining  Baltimore  plan  and  giving  a  list  of  thesis  topics  used  by  teachers  there. 

Van  Sickle,  J.  H.  *'  What  should  be  the  Basis  for  the  Promotion  of  Teachers 
and  the  Increase  of  Teachers'  Salaries?"  In  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  1906,  pp.  177-83. 

A  good  presentation  of  the  promotional  plan  for  teachers'  salaries  as  adopted  in 
Baltimore. 

Van  Sickle,  J.  H.    "Outlines  of  Methods  of  appointing  and  advancing 
Teachers  in  Various  Cities,  with  Discussion  " ;  in  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  1905,  pp.  244-53. 
Brief   descriptions  of   plans   then   used   by   Baltimore,  Denver,  Omaha,  Chicago, 
Kansas  City,  Lowell,  Newark,  and  New  York  City,  with  discussions. 

**  Teachers'  Rating  Card  in  use  at  Omaha  " ;  in  Elementary  School  Journal, 
vol.  XX,  pp.  723-24.     (June,  1920.) 
A  rating  card  worked  out  by  the  teachers  themselves. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  COURSES  OF  INSTRUCTION 

I.  Construction  and  Types 
The  superintendent  and  the  courses  of  study.  Whatever 
else  the  superintendent  may  be,  the  real  and  final  test  of 
his  worth  and  efficiency  lies  in  the  knowledge  he  possesses 
as  to  means  and  purposes  in  the  education  of  children;  and, 
as  a  result  of  such  knowledge,  the  influence  he  can  exert  on 
the  instruction  given  in  the  schools  through  the  making, 
moulding,  and  administering  of  the  different  courses^  of 
study.  Organizer  he  must  at  times  be,  and  administrator 
he  must  daily  be,  but  his  work  in  organizing  and  admin- 
istering are,  after  all,  merely  contributory  to  his  larger 
success  as  the  educational  leader  of  the  school  system,  and, 
in  a  sense,  the  educational  leader  of  his  community  as  well. 
In  the  construction  and  adaptation  of  the  courses  of  in- 
struction, and  in  the  interpretation  of  means  and  ends  in 
educational  procedure,  the  real  measure  of  his  competence 
for  the  position  of  superintendent  of  schools  is  to  be  found. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  he  should  be,  par  excellence,  the  expert; 
here  his  knowledge  as  a  specialist  in  educational  matters 
should  stand  forth  distinctly;  here  should  be  evident  that 

1  The  expression  "courses  of  study"  is  used  throughout  this  chapter 
instead  of  the  more  commonly  used  "course  of  study,"  for  the  reason  that 
the  author  conceives  of  each  subject,  such  as  reading  and  hterature,  his- 
tory, geography,  natm-e  study  and  elementary  science,  household  arts, 
etc.,  as  being  of  such  a  nature  that  courses  of  study  in  each  should  be 
prepared.  He  also  conceives  of  courses  of  study  as  being  best  arranged 
when  a  teacher  is  presented  with  a  series  of  longitudinal  views  of  the  tool 
materials,  instead  of  a  horizontal  cross-section  of  her  particular  segments 
of  the  different  studies. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  275 

large  professional  insight  which  makes  him  the  natural 
leader  of  all  his  subordinates  in  the  educational  department; 
here  he  can  render  the  services  of  which  the  schools  stand 
most  in  need.  All  organization  and  administration  should 
be  contributory  to  this  important  end.^ 

For  such  conspicuous  educational  service  the  superin- 
tendent must  be  master  of  his  calling.  If  he  is  not,  he 
cannot  expect  to  exert  much  really  helpful  influence  on 
the  work  of  the  schools.  Mastery,  though,  comes,  in  part, 
from  years  of  practical  experience,  but  also,  in  part,  from 
careful  professional  study  and  preparation.  To  mould  the 
thought  of  his  principals  and  teachers  calls  for  large  educa- 
tional insight  and  pedagogical  knowledge,  and  these  are  a 
resultant  of  study  and  thought,  tested  by  school  experience. 
It  is  now  that  the  years  of  preparatory  study  and  work  in 
minor  executive  positions,  the  importance  of  which  has 
been  emphasized  in  an  earlier  chapter,  ^  will  become 
apparent. 

The  superintendent's  guiding  hand.  While  stimulating 
principals  and  teachers  to  activity  in  arranging  subject- 
matter  and  materials,  and  in  adapting  the  course  of  in- 
struction to  the  needs  of  the  pupils,  the  superintendent's 
larger  insight  into  individual  and  community  needs  and 
educational  processes  should  make  his  judgment  worth 
more  than  that  of  his  subordinates  in  the  final  determi- 

^  "It  is  not  easy  to  keep  a  clear  perspective  of  values  among  the  various 
details  that  press  for  attention  in  the  routine  of  school  administration. 
An  active  superintendent  finds  it  easy  to  assume  duties  akin  to  those  of 
a  clerk  of  supplies  or  purchasing  agent;  to  become  a  gatherer  of  statistics; 
to  supervise  buildings  and  grounds,  with  incidental  attention  to  repairs 
and  janitors;  to  select  sites  and  superintend  the  construction  of  buildings; 
to  find  himself  performing  mere  clerical  duties;  these  and  other  details 
lose  him  to  the  real  purpose  for  which  he,  officially,  exists,  which  is:  to  raise 
the  standard  of  teaching  and  to  improve  the  quality  of  instruction  in  the 
schools."  (Superintendent  Elson,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Asso- 
ciation, 1904,  p.  188.) 

2  Chap.  X. 


276  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

nations  as  to  means  and  ends.  His  assistants  may  know 
more  than  he  as  to  what  is  possible  in  their  particular 
classes,  or  lines  of  work,  but  he  should  be  in  closer  touch 
than  they  with  procedure  elsewhere,  and  he  should  see 
better  than  they  the  needs  of  the  child  and  of  the  school 
system  as  a  whole.  He  is,  also,  by  the  very  nature  of  his 
work,  in  closer  touch  than  they  with  the  conditions  and 
needs  of  the  community  served  by  the  schools.  While  work- 
ing with  teachers  and  principals  in  the  construction  and 
continual  modification  of  the  courses  of  instruction  for  the 
schools,  it  must  be  primarily  the  function  of  the  superin- 
tendent to  "throw  into  relief  certain  organizing  and  unify- 
ing principles  which  must  ever  form  the  light  of  guidance 
to  teachers,  thereby  lifting  them  out  of  the  fragmentary 
one-year  view  of  both  subject-matter  and  child-life,  — 
which  school  classification  imposes,  —  and  giving  them 
glimpses  of  the  unity  and  wholeness  of  both,  which  are 
essential  to  any  adequate  perspective  of  educational  values 
or  of  the  educative  process  as  a  whole."  ^  It  is  such  profes- 
sional leadership  which  serves  to  illuminate  and  vitalize  the 
details  of  schoolroom  procedure. 

In  the  small  city  the  superintendent  of  schools  will  nat- 
urally be  closer  to  his  teachers  in  the  administration  of  a 
course  of  study  than  can  be  the  case  in  a  large  city.  In 
the  former  he  will  need  to  do  much  of  the  planning,  can 
personally  assist  individual  teachers  in  adapting  and  modi- 
fying the  courses  to  meet  local  or  temporary  situations,  and 
can  closely  supervise  the  teachers  in  carrying  out  the  work 
decided  upon.  In  the  large  city  he  must  work  largely 
through  assistant  superintendents,  special  supervisors,  and 
principals.  Yet  in  both  cases  "greatest  good  will  come  if 
he  seeks  constantly  to  raise  the  ideals  of  teachers,  giving 
freedom  to  use  their  ability  to  realize  these  ideals,  stimu- 
*  Elson  supra,  p.  189. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  277 

lating  initiative  in  every  way  in  principals  and  teachers,  — 
by  relying  in  the  details  of  their  work,  both  in  matter  and 
method,  largely  on  their  judgment;  by  enabling  them  to 
feel  that  they  are  true  factors  in  the  life  of  the  school;  by 
stimulating  a  sense  of  personal  and  professional  responsi- 
bility and  self-esteem;  consequently,  by  framing  the  course 
of  study  on  broad  lines  which  may  secure  a  healthy  unity, 
but  avoid  the  pitfalls  of  deadly  uniformity;  by  encouraging 
discussion,  and  personal  and  professional  research;  by  judi- 
ciously commending  success;  by  tactful  criticism;  by  free 
recognition  of  merit  and  the  elimination  of  manifest  incom- 
petency. To  this  may  be  added  the  inspiration  of  his  own 
example,  and  occasional  messages  from  aggressive  col- 
leagues." ^ 

The  construction  of  courses  of  study.  One  of  the  quickest 
means  for  determining  the  ideals  and  purposes  which  act- 
uate a  school  system  is  to  examine  the  courses  of  study  pre- 
scribed for  the  schools.  From  such  an  examination  the  real 
character  of  the  ideals  of  the  administration  as  to  the  pur- 
poses of  education  can  quickly  be  told.  Not  only  can  one 
tell  how  the  courses  have  been  constructed,  but  also  what 
pedagogical  conceptions  underlie  the  work. 

In  general,  and  disregarding  minor  variations,  courses  of 
study  group  themselves  about  two  main  types,  though 
with  many  courses  lying  in  between  and  shading  more  or 
less  into  one  or  the  other.  These  two  types  may  be  desig- 
nated as  (1)  the  information  or  knowledge  type,  and  (2)  the 
development  type. 

1.  Information  or  knowledge  courses. 
The  pedagogical  conceptions  as  to  the  purpose  of  education 
which  lies  back  of  the  construction  of  this  type  of  courses 
of  study  are  that  it  is  the  mission  of  the  school  to  pass 

*  Elson,  supra,  p.  191. 


278  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADME^STRATION 

on  the  accumulated  knowledge  of  the  past  to  the  next  gen« 
eration,  that  the  mere  process  of  acquiring  such  knowledge 
gives  good  mental  discipline,  and  that  knowledge  is  synony- 
mous with  power.  Facts,  often  of  no  particular  importance 
in  themselves,  are  taught,  memorized,  and  tested  for,  to  be 
forgotten  as  soon  as  the  school-grade  need  for  them  has 
passed.  Tool  studies,  as  opposed  to  content  studies  and 
constructional  activities,  are  greatly  overemphasized,  and 
are  made  ends  in  themselves.  Years  of  a  child's  life  are 
often  spent  in  learning  supposed  uses  of  a  tool  for  which 
there  is  no  use  outside  of  the  schoolroom  itself;  weeks, 
months,  and  even  years  are  spent  in  drilling  on  problems 
of  a  type  no  man  in  practical  life  ever  solves,  and  which  can 
be  of  no  use  to  any  one  except  a  school  teacher. 

Arithmetic  and  formal  grammar  are  greatly  overem- 
phasized in  such  courses;  reading  is  taught  as  an  end  in 
itself,  instead  of  as  a  tool  to  unlock  biography,  history,  and 
literature,  and  to  lead  to  pleasure  and  enjoyment;  the  com- 
position work  is  dull,  formal,  and  unproductive;  geography 
is  book  geography,  while  the  world  before  the  eyes  of 
teacher  and  children  remains  unread  and  almost  unknown; 
drawing  and  music  are  formal;  science  is  minimized,  and 
used  largely  as  a  disciplinary  study;  and  any  real  enrich- 
ment of  the  courses  of  instruction  is  wanting.  Grade  in- 
struction continues  throughout  the  eighth  grade,  and  the 
secondary-school  courses  also  are  bookish,  somewhat  limited 
in  scope,  and  uniform  for  all  types  of  students.  Bookish 
and  abstract  work  dominates  the  courses  of  instruction,  to 
the  serious  injury  of  that  large  minority  of  children,  if  not 
actual  majority,  who  must  be  educated  largely  through 
contact  with  concrete  things. 

Dependence  upon  textbooks.  Such  courses  of  study  also 
usually  reveal  a  large  dependence  upon  textbooks,  with 
little  or  no  supplementary  or  collateral  material  supplied. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  279 

Often  such  courses  are  carefully  subdivided  into  parts,  and 
the  pages  in  the  specified  textbooks  which  are  to  be  taught, 
in  each  segment  of  the  course,  are  enumerated.  Often  the 
courses  of  study  depend  so  thoroughly  upon  the  adopted 
textbooks  that  they  are  very  brief,  and  consist  almost  en- 
tirely of  a  specification  of  certain  pages  in  certain  books, ^ 
giving  to  teachers  no  other  directions  or  suggestions  than 
are  contained  in  such  books.  Such  a  plan  naturally  gives 
little  liberty  to  principals  or  teachers,  and  hence  relieves 
them  of  all  responsibility  in  the  matter  of  the  adaptation 
or  development  of  the  work.  The  courses  are  handed  down 
from  above  as  finished  products,  and  criticism  of  the  courses 
is  usually  not  especially  welcomed  by  those  who  prepared 
them.    The  result  is  that  both  principals  and  teachers  feel 

1  The  following  extract  from  the  courses  of  study  found  in  one  of  our 
American  cities  illustrates  well  such  courses  of  instruction:  — 
SEVENTH  B  GRADE 
PART  FORTY 

Reading 
Cry's  Fifth  Reader,  pages  97  to  142. 

Arithmetic 
Smith's  Practical  Arithmetic,  pages  202  to  216. 

Language 
Buehler's  Grammar,  pages  81  to  95  inclusive. 
Geography 
Natural  School  Geography,  pages  124  to  137,  to  end  of  China. 
Map  Drawing,  Humboldt  Geographical  Notebook,  pages  15  to  32,  inclusive. 

Spelling 
Reed's  Word  Lessons,  pages  115  to  127  inclusive. 

Writing 
Outlook  writing  system.  No.  6. 

Dravnng 
Prang's  Textbook  of  Art  Education,  Book  VI. 

Music 
New  Educational  3d  Music  Reader. 

Physiology 
Krohn's  Graded  Lessons  in  Physiology  and  Hygiene,  chaps,  X,  XI,  XII. 

Similar  descriptions  are  given  for  each  of  the  fifty-four  parts  into 
which  the  nine  years  of  elementary-school  instruction  are  divided. 

See  chapter  viii,  Portland  Report,  for  a  description  of  the  workings  of 
such  a  course  of  instruction  in  the  schools,  and  the  effect  on  all  concerned. 


280  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

that  they  are  relieved  of  any  responsibility  for  what  they 
contain,  or  their  educational  result;  the  instruction  tends  to 
become  formal  and  routine  and  perfunctory  in  type;  and  the 
teaching  force  tends  slowly  to  go  to  sleep,  so  far  as  thinking 
about  what  they  are  doing  is  concerned.^ 

The  administration  of  such  courses.  Such  courses  are 
also  characterized  by  an  almost  deadening  uniformity,  and 
the  work  of  each  teacher  and  school  is  usually  carefully 
checked  up  by  supervisors  who  act  as  inspectors,  and  by  pe- 
riodical written  tests  sent  out  from  the  central  office.  The 
administration  of  the  courses  of  study  becomes  the  running 
of  a  machine.  So  much  work  is  laid  out  to  be  done,  and 
the  proof  of  the  doing  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  reports 
of  progress  and  the  quarterly  or  half-yearly  written  tests. 
Anticipation  of  the  examinations  dominates  the  work  of 
instruction;  fact  reviews  are  frequent;  teachers  keep  lists 
of  the  questions  for  years  preceding,  and  carefully  coach 
their  pupils  on  the  points  it  is  thought  may  be  asked  for; 
and  the  standing  of  the  schools  and  teachers  is  in  large 
part  determined  by  the  promotional  records.  The  almost 
inevitable  result  is  that  both  teachers  and  pupils  lose  sight 
of  the  real  aims  in  school  work  and  the  purposes  of  educa- 

1  "Neither  by  example  nor  by  precept  do  such  outlines  suggest  to 
teachers  and  principals  any  thought  of  the  function  of  each  of  the  pre- 
scribed subjects  as  means  of  education;  any  consideration  of  the  relative 
importance  for  Portland  children,  not  to  mention  different  groups  of 
Portland  children,  of  the  numerous  topics  treated  in  textbooks  designed 
for  use  throughout  the  country ;  any  correlation  in  the  treatment  of  closely 
related  subjects;  any  adaptation  of  method  to  the  educative  ends  sought 
through  the  use  of  this  textbook  material.  On  the  contrary,  whether  so 
intended  or  not,  the  one  all-dominating  suggestion  of  the  published  course 
of  study  for. the  elementary  schools  is  that  so  many  pages  of  certain  text- 
books are  to  be  learned,  and  at  a  certain  time  and  in  a  certain  order.  This 
suggestion,  reinforced  by  the  system  of  uniform  city  examinations  from 
the  fourth  grade  on,  and  by  supervisory  inspection,  has  become  the  chief 
guiding  purpose  in  the  work  of  teachers,  above  the  primary  grades;  it 
could  scarcely  be  otherwise."  (Superintendent  Spaulding,  in  the  Portland 
School  Survey  Report,  chap,  viii.) 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  281 

tion;  the  important  ends  of  instruction  are  subordinated 
to  the  cramming  of  facts;  the  real  abihties  of  teachers  and 
children  are  in  no  way  measured  by  the  results;  the  retard- 
ation and  elimination  of  pupils  in  the  system  is  high;  and 
the  paralyzing  effect  of  such  an  administration  of  instruc- 
tion extends  through  all  branches  of  the  school  system 
and  is  evidenced  in  the  character  of  the  final  output  of 
the  schools. 

Such  a  knowledge  conception  of  educational  aims  and 
purposes  also  carries  uniformity  for  all  as  a  natural  corol- 
lary. If  knowledge  is  the  important  thing,  and  the  courses 
of  study  represent  the  knowledge  which  it  has  been  decided 
should  be  taught,  then  the  insistence  upon  the  acquirement 
of  the  knowledge  follows  quite  naturally.  The  kind,  amount, 
and  order  of  the  subject-matter  to  be  learned,  by  all  pupils 
in  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  regardless  of  age,  past  experience, 
future  prospects,  or  physical  or  mental  condition,  is  uni- 
formly laid  down  for  all .  If  apothecaries'  measure  and  bank 
discount  in  arithmetic,  participles  and  the  subjunctive  mood 
in  grammar,  the  geography  of  Africa  and  Asia  in  geo- 
graphy, and  algebra  and  the  Merchant  of  Venice  in  high- 
school  work  are  necessary  for  one,  it  naturally  follows  that 
they  should  be  required  of  all. 

Hence  promotions  depend  upon  mastery  of  such  require- 
ments, and  children  entering  from  other  school  systems, 
where  the  requirements  have  not  been  quite  the  same,  natur- 
ally are  set  back  and  required  to  bring  up  the  back  work. 
If  the  geography  of  Africa  and  longitude  and  time  are  re- 
quired in  the  sixth  grade,  and  a  boy  enters  from  elsewhere 
who  has  finished  the  sixth  grade  but  who  has  not  had  these 
subjects,  he  is  held  back  until  he  has  made  up  the  work  in 
which  he  is  found  deficient.  If  completion  of  the  grammar- 
school  course  is  a  prerequisite  for  admission  to  the  high 
school,  and  a  girl  of  twenty  who  stopped  school  at  the  end 


282  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

of  the  seventh  grade  and  who  is  now  soon  to  be  married,  de- 
sires to  enter  for  a  year's  work  in  the  domestic  science  and 
household  arts  course,  she  naturally  finds  herself  unable  to 
do  so.  Even  children  in  day  schools  for  the  deaf,  in  parental 
schools,  and  in  schools  for  those  of  low  mental  capacity, 
often  find  it  necessary  to  follow  the  regularly  ordained  line 
of  instruction. 

Effect  on  the  instructing  body.  The  knowledge  theory 
dominates  everything;  the  supervision  becomes  inspection; 
the  chief  educational  function  of  the  central  office  is  to  say 
what  is  to  be  done  and  to  test  the  results;  the  principals 
become  keepers  of  records  and  handers-out  of  chalk  and 
supplies;  and  the  teachers  do  their  part  in  a  passive  and 
routine  manner,  thinking  little  as  to  the  educational  signifi- 
cance of  what  they  do,  and  without  interest  in  educational 
procedure,  so  long  as  their  pupils  pass  and  they  are  let  alone 
by  the  inspecting  authorities. 

The  preparation  of  such  courses  of  study  requires  but  little 
thought.  To  be  sure,  the  knowledge  theory  underlies  their 
construction,  but  they  could  nevertheless  be  prepared  by 
mathematically  dividing  off  the  pages  of  the  textbooks,  or 
by  copying  what  had  been  prepared  elsewhere.  The  effect  of 
such  courses  on  the  schools  is  as  bad  as  their  preparation  is 
easy,  and  the  promulgation  and  administration  of  such  a 
type  of  courses  of  instruction  for  the  schools  is  one  of  the  best 
recipes  that  can  be  given  for  producing  an  unthinking  and 
professionally  inactive  body  of  principals  and  teachers. 
There  may  be  an  appearance  of  smooth-running  machinery 
and  an  absence  of  friction,  but  such  quiet  activity  is  due 
rather  to  the  professional  death  on  all  sides  than  to  the  quiet 
hum  of  a  professionally  interested  teaching  body. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  283 

2.  The  development  type  of  courses. 

Entirely  different  conceptions  as  to  the  nature  and  pur- 
pose of  education  underlie  the  preparation  of  this  type  of 
courses  of  study.  Instead  of  being  fixed  and  finished  pro- 
ducts, this  type  of  courses  remain  living  and  developing 
things.  Instead  of  facts  being  conceived  as  important  in 
themselves,  they  are  regarded  as  of  no  real  importance  until 
they  have  been  put  to  use.  Knowledge  is  conceived  of  as 
life  experience  and  inner  conviction,  and  not  as  the  memo- 
rization of  the  accumulated  knowledge  of  the  past,  —  as  a 
tool  to  do  something  with,  and  not  as  a  finished  product  in 
itself.  The  whole  conception  of  the  school  is,  in  consequence, 
changed  from  that  of  a  place  where  children  prepare  for  life, 
by  learning  certain  traditional  things,  to  a  place  where  chil- 
dren live  life,  and  are  daily  brought  in  contact  with  such 
real  life  experiences  as  will  best  prepare  them  for  the  harder 
problems  of  life  which  lie  just  ahead.  The  children  in  the 
community  who  present  themselves  for  education,  and  not 
the  more  or  less  traditional  subject-matter  of  instruction, 
are  regarded  as  the  real  educational  problem.  Of  course, 
under  such  a  working  conception,  nothing  can  remain  very 
fixed  or  very  final. 

The  principal  and  teacher  in  such  a  school  system.  The 
principals  and  teachers  in  a  school  system  where  the  courses 
of  instruction  have  been  worked  out  on  a  basis  of  such 
modern  educational  conceptions,  naturally  occupy  quite  a 
different  position  from  that  of  principals  and  teachers  in 
city  school  systems  which  follow  the  other  and  older  type 
of  courses  of  study.  It  now  becomes  the  business  of  all  to 
think  over  and  study  the  problems  of  instruction,  with  a 
view  to  adapting  and  adjusting  the  school  work  to  the  needs 
and  capacities  of  the  pupils  to  be  instructed.  The  chief 
purpose  of  the  school  principals,  in  so  far  as  their  work  with 


284  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

teachers  relates  to  instruction,  and  the  chief  purpose  of  the 
teachers  in  the  classrooms  with  the  children,  now  becomes 
that  of  acting  as  stimuli  to  thinking  over  the  problems  at 
hand. 

The  principal  proposes  methods  of  procedure  to  his 
teachers,  and  these  are  considered  and  tried  out.  The 
teachers  propose  problems  to  their  pupils,  and  guide  them 
in  thinking,  studying,  and  examining  them.  In  each  case 
the  solving  is  the  real  thing;  not  the  memorizing  of  some 
one  else's  solution. 

In  a  way,  both  principals  and  teachers  stand  as  stimuli 
to  individual  activity,  as  whetstones  upon  which  those  stim- 
ulated may  bring  their  thinking  to  a  keener  edge,  and  as 
critics  by  whose  help  young  people  may  develop  their  ability 
to  reason  accurately  and  well.  The  purpose  of  instruction 
is  changed  from  the  memorization  of  facts,  to  that  of  fitting 
pupils  for  personal  responsibilities;  from  that  of  accumulat- 
ing information,  to  that  of  training  young  people  to  stand 
on  their  own  feet;  from  that  of  transmitting  to  them  the 
inherited  knowledge  of  the  past,  to  that  of  preparing  them 
for  social  efficiency  in  the  life  of  to-morrow. 

Mere  drill  —  often  meaningless  and  unintelligent  drill  —  is 
largely  replaced  by  lessons  involving  appreciation  and  ex- 
pression; problems  that  prepare  for  efficient  participation 
in  the  work  of  democratic  government  are  emphasized,  and 
training  in  solving  them  is  given;  and  the  social  relation- 
ships of  the  classroom  and  the  school  are  directed  toward 
the  preparation  of  socially  efficient  men  and  women.  The 
teacher's  main  duty  becomes  that  of  guiding  and  directing 
the  normal  processes  of  thought  and  action  on  the  part  of 
pupils,  of  extending  their  appreciation  into  new  directions, 
of  widening  the  horizon  of  their  ambitions,  and  of  stimu- 
lating the  development  of  larger  and  better  ideals  for  life 
and  for  service. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  285 

The  final  test  for  all  such  work  naturally  cannot  be  the 
term  or  the  quarterly  written  examination,  but  must  be  the 
judgment  of  principal  and  teacher  as  to  whether  the  pupil 
has  developed  sufficiently,  under  such  a  course  of  training, 
as  to  be  ready  to  attempt  the  problems  which  will  meet  him 
in  the  next  grade  ahead. 

Such  courses  growing  courses.  As  was  said  above,  noth- 
ing can  be  very  fixed  or  very  final  in  the  courses  of  instruc- 
tion in  a  school  system  actuated  by  such  conceptions  as  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  exists.  There  will,  of  course,  be  certain 
constants  in  instruction,  which  will  be  more  or  less  generally 
required  of  all  normal  children.  Certain  alternatives  also 
will  be  proposed,  from  which  schools  or  teachers  may  choose. 
Certain  optionals  will  also  be  included,  which  may  be  taken 
up  or  omitted,  as  the  needs  of  the  classes  or  of  the  brighter 
pupils  may  seem  to  require. 

The  courses,  though,  will  be  regarded  as  dynamic  rather 
than  static,  in  the  sense  that  year  by  year  they  will  be  sub- 
ject to  change  to  meet  changing  needs,  or  to  bring  them 
more  into  harmony  with  the  results  of  the  best  experience, 
either  within  or  without  the  city.  The  needs  of  the  com- 
munity and  of  society  are  ever  changing  and  growing,  while 
the  needs  of  children  vary  much,  and  the  adaptation  of 
schools,  teaching,  and  subject-matter  to  meet  these  chang- 
ing needs  is  one  of  the  most  important  problems  connected 
with  the  supervision  of  instruction. 

Cooperation  of  all  needed.  Such  a  task  is  too  large  for  one 
man,  even  in  a  small  city,  though  one  man,  or  in  a  large  city 
a  few  men,  must  in  a  way  oversee  and  guide  and  in  the  end 
decide  upon  the  work.  While  the  task  calls  for  good  leader- 
ship, it  calls  even  more  for  the  united  efforts  of  all  principals 
and  teachers,  and  all  should  be  made  to  feel  that  the  adjust- 
ment and  the  adaptation  of  the  courses  of  instruction  to  the 
needs  of  pupils  under  their  charge  is  in  a  way  their  problem. 


286  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

This  demands  flexibility  in  place  of  the  usual  rigidity,  and 
the  acceptance,  as  preparation  for  the  next  grade  ahead,  of 
whatever  type  of  educational  experience  has  seemed  most 
useful  to  the  child  or  group  in  the  grade  below.  It  also  de- 
mands that  a  teaching  force  be  guided  by  the  right  kind  of 
educational  conceptions  and  standards  of  measurement, 
that  they  may,  in  consequence,  work  along  intelligent  lines. 
Changes  in  the  course  of  study,  changes  in  the  types  of 
schools,  changes  in  organization  within  individual  schools 
or  individual  classrooms,  and  changes  in  the  immediate  aims 
and  methods  of  instruction  should  be  possible  at  any  time, 
if,  by  so  doing,  the  work  of  the  schools  may  be  adapted 
better  to  the  ever-changing  needs  of  groups  of  pupils  and 
elements  in  the  community. 

Variations  between  schools.  The  idea  that  all  children  in 
a  city  should  pursue  the  same  courses  of  study  goes  back  to 
the  knowledge  conception  of  educational  work,  and  is  inde- 
fensible on  any  modern  standpoint  as  to  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  public  education.  To  require  all  of  the  children 
of  a  State  to  follow  the  same  courses,  is,  to  put  it  mildly,  a 
still  greater  educational  blunder.  In  any  modern  city  diverse 
elements  collect  together  in  different  parts,  and  these  have 
different  economic,  social,  and  moral  standards.  The  chil- 
dren vary  not  only  from  group  to  group,  but  within  the  dif- 
ferent groups  as  well.  One  school  may  be  composed  largely 
of  the  children  of  recently  arrived  Italians,  another  of  the 
children  of  recently  arrived  Scandinavians  and  Russian 
Jews,  another  of  substantial  Germans,  another  of  middle- 
class  Americans  of  different  racial  stocks,  and  another  of 
wealthy  professional  and  business  men.  Not  only  the  needs, 
but  the  possibilities  in  instruction  will  vary  much  in  the 
different  schools,  while  some  children  in  each  will  equal  the 
best  and  some  the  poorest  to  be  found  in  any  other  school. 
The  emphasis  in  instruction  will  need  to  be  placed  some- 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  287 

what  differently  in  the  different  schools  if  the  best  educa- 
tional results  are  to  be  obtained.  Even  the  schools,  as 
wholes,  may  be  allowed  to  develop  along  somewhat  different 
lines. ^  Better  to  meet  such  individual  differences  in  the 
upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school,  a  differentiation  in 
courses  for  pupils  of  different  types  and  destinies  is  very 
desirable.  In  the  next  chapter  this  will  be  considered  more 
at  length. 

Experimental  rooms  or  schools.  A  superintendent  of 
schools  ought  to  have  no  hesitancy  in  permitting  teachers 
or  schools  to  try  new  experiments  in  instruction,  under  regu- 
lated conditions.  On  the  contrary,  he  ought  to  encourage 
such  experimentation.  Connected  with  every  school  system 
there  ought  to  be  a  few  experimental  rooms.  Even  if  the 
results  prove  no  better  than  the  methods  then  in  use,  or 
even  prove  unsatisfactory,  the  effect  of  such  experimenta- 
tion on  the  teaching  force  is  good.  It  keeps  principals  and 
teachers  thinking,  and  tends  to  prevent  the  oncoming  of 
that  mental  crystallization  which  seems  to  settle  gradually 
over  so  many  principals  and  teachers  like  the  hardening  of 
a  plaster  cast. 

Under  the  direction  of  superintendent  and  principals  a 
few  of  the  more  reliable  teachers  should  try  new  experiments 
in  instruction.  If  these  turn  out  well,  it  is  then  easy  to 
introduce  them  into  the  schools;  if  not,  they  can  be  let  alone. 
Growth  comes  from  such  an  open-minded  attitude  toward 
new  methods  and  ideas,  and  not  from  standing  still,  repeat- 
ing the  same  operations  and  following  the  same  methods 
day  after  day  and  year  after  year.^ 

1  The  city  of  Indianapolis  is  a  good  case  in  point.  The  principals  and 
teachers  there  have  been  allowed  to  develop  their  schools  along  some- 
what different  lines,  and  to  give  to  each  an  individuality. 

2  The  introduction  of  departmental  instruction,  domestic  science,  kin- 
dergartens, vocational  work,  the  substitution  of  German  or  Spanish  in 
the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  for  English  grammar,  the  omission  of  arith- 


288  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Study  of  local  problems  and  needs.  Too  little  study  of 
the  results  of  the  instruction  given  or  of  local  needs  and 
community  problems,  on  the  part  of  many  of  our  city 
school  systems,  is  evidenced  when  a  close  study  is  made  of 
the  courses  of  instruction  outlined  for  use  in  the  schools,^ 
and  of  the  statistical  tables  published  showing  the  classifi- 
cation of  pupils  in  the  schools.  The  result  is  that  our  schools 
too  often  fail  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  either  the  children  or  of 
the  community,  and,  in  turn,  fail  to  receive  the  community 
support  which  should  be  their  due.  The  consequence  is  a 
school  system  satisfying,  to  only  a  limited  extent,  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  the  children;  often  providing  but  little  spe- 
cialization of  work;  and  often  with  many  children  in  the 
grades  who  are  unable  to  make  proper  progress  under  the 
type  of  instruction  provided.  The  study  of  such  a  condition 
at  once  leads  to  efforts  at  the  differentiation  of  instruction. 

Our  schools,  also,  too  often  exist  as  a  thing  apart  and 
by  themselves,  instead  of  closely  correlating  their  educa- 
tional service  to  the  needs  of  the  community  served.  Our 
Y.M.C.A.'s  are  often  far  more  successful  in  this  respect 

metic  from  the  first  and  second  grades,  larger  emphasis  on  science,  con- 
structional activities  in  some  of  the  lower  grades,  parallel  courses  of  different 
types,  and  minimum  and  maximmn  courses  for  different  children  in  the 
same  class  or  grade,  all  these  are  examples  of  the  more  common  types  of 
experiments.  The  organization  of  a  school  in  the  city  after  the  Gary  plan 
of  instruction  is  a  type  of  an  experiment  on  a  larger  scale. 

1  The  writer  has,  for  years,  made  his  course  in  city  school  administra- 
tion culminate  in  a  school  survey  of  some  city  by  each  student  in  the 
class.  The  report  is  worked  up  from  all  available  and  obtainable  data,  — 
school  reports,  courses  of  study,  board  rules  and  regulations,  teacher- 
data,  salary-schedules,  the  state  school  law,  city  charters,  chamber  of 
commerce  literature,  United  States  Census  data,  commerce  and  labor 
data,  financial  statistics,  etc.,  —  and,  while  some  of  the  conclusions  might 
be  modified  by  a  close  study  made  on  the  ground,  the  results  are  neverthe- 
less indicative  of  the  city's  educational  position.  One  prominent  fact 
brought  out  in  most  of  these  surveys  is  the  lack  of  relation  of  the  courses 
of  instruction  to  community  needs  and  problems.  Most  of  the  pubUc  school 
surveys  which  have  been  made  point  to  a  similar  condition  of  affairs. 
(See  in  particular,  the  surveys  of  Portland  and  Butte.) 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  289 

than  are  the  public  schools.  A  close  study  of  the  social  and 
economic  position  of  a  city^  will  not  only  reveal  many  un- 
satisfied educational  needs,  but  will  enable  the  school  au- 
thorities to  so  shape  and  so  redirect  the  instruction  as  not 
only  to  make  the  schools  render  a  much  larger  community 
service,  but,  at  the  same  time,  to  prepare  pupils  better  for 
real  success  and  happiness  in  life.  It  is  from  such  larger 
community  service  that  larger  community  support,  both 
moral  and  financial,  must  ultimately  come. 

In  the  following  chapter  we  shall  point  our  how  some  of 
these  needs  have  been  met  by  adaptations  and  adjust- 
ments tending  to  break  up  the  mass  idea  of  instruction. 

Economy  of  time  in  education.  One  of  the  important  lines 
for  future  study  and  experimentation  in  our  public  school 
systems  lies  along  the  direction  of  effecting  an  economy  of 
time  in  instruction.  This  will  call  for  eliminations  in  subject- 
matter  and  for  the  shortening-up  of  the  work  of  instruction, 
so  as  to  get  pupils  into  the  higher  work  at  an  earlier  date. 
Much  subject-matter  of  little  real  use  is  still  taught  in  many 
of  our  schools,  and  in  many  school  systems,  particularly  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States,  nine  years  are  still 
given  to  the  elementary-school  course  of  study.  This  means 
an  age  of  nineteen  years,  at  a  normal  rate  of  progress,  when 
a  student  completes  the  high  school,  whereas  at  this  age  a 
capable  student  ought  to  be  through  his  second  year  of 
college.  The  two  questions  of  desirable  eliminations  in 
subject-matter,  and  the  shortening  of  the  schooling  period, 
especially  for  the  most  capable  children,  will  be  questions 
of  large  importance  in  the  near  future.  ^ 

^  For  an  example  of  this,  see  the  Portland  School  Survey,  chaps,  vi 
and  VII.  See  also  the  Springfield  Survey  Report,  the  Butte  Survey  Report, 
or  the  Salt  Lake  City  Survey  Report. 

2  The  nine-year  elementary-school  course  was  once  common.  To-day 
eight  years  is  the  length  of  time  usually  required,  but  many  school  systems 
have  further  shortened  the  period  to  seven  years.  See  articles  by  Green- 
wood, Judd,  and  Judson  on  this  point. 


290  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

In  both  elementary  and  secondary  education  there  are 
many  opportunities  for  the  elimination  of  waste  in  instruc- 
tion, and  for  the  economy  of  time  in  passing  pupils  along. 
In  part  this  calls  for  eliminations  ^  in  courses,  in  part  for  the 
introduction  of  new  types  of  educational  tools,  and  in  part 
for  adjustments  and  differentiations  in  instruction  to  meet 
individual  and  community  needs.  This  latter  phase  of  the 
question  will  be  considered  more  at  length  in  the  following 
chapter. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Would  efficiency  in  other  lines  excuse  a  superintendent  of  schools 
from  not  knowing  much  about  courses  of  study? 

2.  How  far  is  it  desirable  to  have  teachers  and  principals  assist  in  the 
preparation  and  modification  of  courses  of  study? 

3.  Suppose  the  courses  so  prepared  are  old-style  and  reactionary,  what 
should  the  superintendent  do? 

4.  After  courses  of  study  have  been  adopted  and  printed,  should  a  super- 
intendent refuse  to  allow  of  a  modification?  Is  it  desirable  to  allow 
of  modifications,  for  certain  teachers  or  schools,  that  are  not  allowed 
generally? 

5.  Why  is  an  examination  of  the  printed  courses  of  study  the  best  single 
index  as  to  the  character  of  the  school  system  maintained?  What 
would  be  a  second  good  index? 

6.  Contrast  the  educational  theory  underlying  knowledge-type  courses 
of  study  and  development-type  courses  of  study?  Why  is  uniformity 
the  natural  corollary  of  the  former? 

7.  What  do  you  understand  to  be  meant  by  tool  and  by  content  studies? 
By  "fads"  in  courses  of  study? 

8.  In  what  kind  of  a  school  system  will  the  so-called  "fads"  receive  most 
attention? 

9.  Why  is  the  public  so  slow  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  newer 
studies  ? 

10.  State  the  objections  to  courses  of  study  based  upon  pages  in  text- 
books. 

1  See  Jessup's  "Economy  of  Time  in  Arithmetic,"  in  Proceedings  of 
National  Education  Association,  1914,  pp.  209-22,  for  a  good  example  of 
possible  eliminations.  Also  see  the  four  reports  on  language  and  grammar, 
arithmetic,  reading,  and  history  and  geography,  and  a  fifth  paper  de- 
scribing some  typical  progressive  experiments,  in  the  "Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Economy  of  Time  in  Education,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  for  1915. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  291 

11.  What  do  you  think  of  the  idea  of  allomng  different- type  courses  in 
different  parts  of  a  city? 

12.  Should  a  girl  who  cannot  get  the  work  in  arithmetic,  or  a  boy  who 
cannot  get  the  work  in  grammar,  be  allowed  to  go  on  into  the  next 
grade? 

13.  Should  the  same  courses  of  study  be  followed  in  special-type  schools 
as  in  the  regular  schools? 

14.  Should  lessons  and  work  leading  to  appreciation  and  expression  be 
made  of  as  much  importance  as  lessons  and  work  whose  aim  is  drill? 
What  is  the  place  and  importance  of  drill  in  education? 

15.  What  about  the  argument,  in  cities  where  there  is  much  changing 
of  residence,  that  courses  should  be  uniform  in  all  schools  so  as  to 
facilitate  transfers  of  pupils  from  school  to  school? 

16.  Why  do  schoolmasters  so  commonly  think  of  children  in  terms  of 
courses  of  study,  instead  of  courses  of  study  in  terms  of  children? 

17.  Will  a  school  system  closely  adapted  to  local  needs  cost  more  to  run 
than  a  traditional  school?  Why?  Why  will  such  a  school,  however,  be 
supported  better  by  the  people,  if  they  understand  what  is  being  done? 

18.  Do  you  think  that  the  common  argument  that  American  boys  waste 
time,  and  do  not  progress  in  school  as  fast  as  they  should,  is  well 
founded? 

19.  Why  have  continental  European  school  systems  had  a  decided  ad- 
vantage over  American  school  systems  in  the  matter  of  a  more  rapid 
advance  of  their  pupils? 

20.  Do  the  arguments  for  a  seven-year  elementary-school  course  of  study 
appeal  to  you  as  good? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Suppose  that  you  have  just  been  elected  superintendent  of  schools 
in  another  city,  the  schools  of  which  are  in  need  of  many  changes. 
In  particular  the  courses  of  study  need  a  general  overhauling.  Draw 
up  an  outline  of  the  facts  concerning  the  city,  the  people,  and  their 
needs  you  would  think  it  desirable  to  know  to  guide  you  in  reorgan- 
izing the  instruction  in  the  schools, 

2.  Take  a  course  of  study  used  in  some  city  school  system  in  your 
vicinity,  and  point  out  the  re\dsions  which  would  save  time  without 
impairing  the  value  of  the  instruction  given. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

t.  Construction  and  types. 

Butte,  Montana.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.   (1914.) 

Chapter  III,  on  the  courses  of  study,  describes  courses  which  represent  the  knowl* 
edge  conception  of  education,  and  points  out  desirable  changes. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.   Our  Schools ;  Their  Administration  and  Supervision. 
Chapter  XII  is  a  brief  statement  of  courses  of  iDstruction,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  outgoing  and  incoming  studies. 


292  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Dewey,  John.  "The  Situation  as  regards  the  Course  of  Study";  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1901,  pp.  332-48.  Also 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  22,  pp.  26-49. 

A  good  statement  of  the  obstacles  to  progress,  and  the  need  of  substituting  some 
better  plan  for  the  tentative  and  empirical  experimentation  which  has  characterized 
progress  during  the  nineteenth  century. 

Draper,  A.  S.  American  Education,  pp.  119-36. 

In  a  chapter  entitled  "Demands  upon  the  Schools,"  something  of  the  purposes  and 
problems  in  instruction  in  a  democratic  school  system  are  set  forth. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  S.  The  Administration  of  Public  Educa- 
tion in  the  United  States. 

Chapter  XVIII,  on  the  elementary-school  course  of  study,  is  a  theoretical  treatment 
of  the  problems  involved  in  the  construction  of  courses,  and  their  cont«^nt  and  form. 

Elson,  W.  H.  "The  Superintendent's  Influence  on  the  Course  of 
Study";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1904,  pp. 
188-94. 

An  excellent  article  on  the  superintendent's  duties  in  the  matter  and  methods  of 
the  course  of  study.  Holds  that  here  is  the  crowning  issue  in  school  administration, 
to  which  aU  else  is  incidental  and  contributory. 

Elson,  W.  H.,  and  Bachman,  F.  P.    "Different  Courses  for  Elementary 

Schools";  in  Educational  Review,  vol.  39,  pp.  357-64.    (April,  1910.) 

Different  social  and  intellectual  needs  demand  different  types  of  instruction. 

Lee,  Joseph.    "The  Need  to  dream";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Educor 

Hon  Association,  1913,  pp.  159-69. 

A  very  readable  article  on  the  kindergarten,  music,  literature,  and  imaginative 
work  as  important  elements  in  the  training  of  children. 

McMurry,  Frank.  "The Uniform  Minimum  Curriculum  with  Uniform 
Examinations";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association, 
1913,  pp.  131-43.  Good  discussion,  pp.  143-48. 

'  Examines  the  proposal,  and  condemns  it  as  contrary  to  all  modern  educational 
theory.  A  strong  and  readable  article. 

McMurry,  Frank.  Elementary  School  Standards.  World  Book  Co., 
New  York,  1913. 

Chapter  VIII  presents  the  standards  for  judging  the  value  of  courses  of  study,  and 
Chapter  IX  applies  the  standards  to  each  of  the  subjects  of  the  elementary-school 
course.   Chapter  IX  contains  much  suggestive  material. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System. 
(1913.)  441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York, 
1915. 

Part  II,  "Instructional  Needs,"  which  covers  half  of  the  report,  describes  the 
knowledge-conception  courses  of  study  found  there,  shows  what  are  the  educational 
needs  of  such  a  community,  and  outlines  an  educational  program  calculated  to  meet 
the  needs  of  such  a  city. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.  (1915.) 
324  pp. 

Chapter  VI,  on  the  printed  courses  of  study,  and  chapter  VII,  on  the  instruction 
and  supervision  as  seen,  describe  conditions  in  a  city  where  the  development  con- 
ception of  education  prevails. 


TYPES  OF  COURSES  OF  STUDY  293 

Wolfe,  L.  E.  "The  Many-Book  vs.  the  Few-Book  Course  of  Study"; 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  45,  pp.  146-54.    (February,  1913.) 

Believes  that  the  use  of  a  large  number  of  textbooks  of  a  new  type,  directed  more 
toward  preparation  for  social  efficiency,  would  give  better  educational  results. 

Economy  of  time. 

Baker,  James  H.,  Chairman.   Economy  of  Time  in  Education.   106  pp. 

Bulletin  no.  38,  1913,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education.  Good  bibliography. 

An  important  report,  by  a  committee  of  the  Council  of  the  National  Education 

Association.  Deals  with  the  question  as  it  relates  to  both  elementary  and  secondary 

education,  and  in  the  light  of  the  underlying  principles  involved. 

Eliot,  C.  W.  "Shortening  and  enriching  the  Grammar-School  Course"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1892,  pp.  617-25. 
Also  in  his  Educational  Reform,  pp.  253-69. 

An  important  early  document,  forecasting  much  of  the  change  that  has  since 
taken  place. 

Greenwood,  J.  M.  "Shorter  Time  in  Elementary  Schools";  in  Educa- 
tional Review,  vol.  24,  pp.  375-90.   (November,  1902.) 

Facts  as  to  conditions  in  Kansas  City.  Thinks  a  seven-year  course  as  good  as  an 
eight-year.   Gives  some  data. 

Judd,  C.  H.  "A  Seven-Year  Elementary  School";  in  Proceedings  of 
National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  225-34. 

Describes  the  progressive  changes  and  eliminations  which  have  led  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  eighth  grade  in  the  University  of  Chicago  school. 

Judd,  C.  H.    "The  Meaning  of  Secondary  Education";  in  School  Re- 
view,  vol.  21,  pp.  11-26.    (January,  1913.) 
On  the  need  of  reorganization  to  prevent  waste. 

Judson,  H.  P.  1.  "Waste  in  Elementary  Curricula";  in  School  Review, 
vol.  20,  pp.  433-41.    (September,  1912.) 

2.  "Economy  in  Education,"  76id.,  vol.  21,  pp.  441-45.  (Septem- 
ber, 1913.) 

Two  good  articles  on  waste  in  elementary  and  secondary  education,  and  the  need 
for  its  elimination. 

Weet,  H.  S.  "Shortening  the  Course  of  Study";  in  Proceedings  of  Na- 
tional Education  Association,  1914,  pp.  269-72. 

A  very  good  statement  of  the  problems  presenting  themselves  for  solution. 

Wilson,  H.  B.,  Chairman.  "Report  of  the  Committee  on  Economy  of 
Time  in  Education";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Asso- 
ciation, 1914,  pp.  206-43. 

A  preliminary  report  of  the  chairman,  and  three  individual  reports.  The  first, 
a  study  of  "Economy  of  Time  in  Arithmetic,"  by  W.  A.  Jessup,  is  an  especially  sug- 
gestive study,  showing  types  of  eliminations  which  may  be  made.  See  also  1915 
volume  of  Proceedings  for  further  studies. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  COURSES  OF  INSTRUCTION 

II.  Adjustments  and  Differentiations 
The  different  attempts  to  adjust  and  differentiate  instruc- 
tion, to  meet  special  and  individual  needs,  group  themselves 
around  four  main  topics  which  will  form  the  subject-matter 
of  this  chapter,  namely,  (1)  The  study  of  retardation  and 
acceleration;  (2)  promotional  plans;  (3)  differentiations  in 
school  work;  (4)  fundamental  reorganizations.  We  shall 
consider  these  in  the  above  order. 

1.  Retardation  and  acceleration 
The  average  course  of  study.  Courses  of  study  in  our 
cities  are  usually  constructed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  so- 
called  "average  child,"  and  children  of  average  capacity 
usually  do  reasonably  well  under  them.  For  some  of  the 
children,  though,  some  or  all  of  the  work  is  too  difficult,  or  is 
wholly  unsuited  to  their  needs,  and  as  a  result  they  fail  to 
make  proper  progress,  while  for  others  the  work  is  too  easy, 
and  in  consequence  they  learn  habits  of  idleness  by  not 
being  worked  nearer  to  their  capacities.  Many  a  college 
loafer  belongs  to  this  latter  class. 

To  meet  the  needs  of  these  different  classes  of  children 
certain  adjustments  and  differentiations  in  courses  of  study 
are  desirable,  in  order  that  each  child  of  school  age  in  the 
community  may  find  work  in  the  schools  suited  to  his  powers. 

The  following  figure  shows  the  condition  existing  in  a  city  ^ 

1  From  data  obtained  from  a  survey  of  the  schools  of  Owatonna,  Minne- 
sota, by  Superintendent  W.  B.  Thornburgh,  and  published  in  an  article 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       295 

where  the  courses  of  study  and  the  promotional  plans  have 
been  adjusted  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  great  mass  of  pupils. 
The  figure  shows  that  the  courses  of  study  are  also  well 
balanced  between  the  needs  of  the  gifted  and  the  slow,  as 
practically  the  same  percentage  of  accelerated  and  retarded 
pupils  are  found  in  the  schools.  This  represents  what  may 
be  said  to  be  an  average,  and  a  tolerably  satisfactory  con- 
dition. In  an  average  school  of  400  pupils  in  such  a  school 
system,  281  will  be  advancing  regularly  with  theu-  grade. 


Retarded,  15.2^  Normal      Rate      of     Progress 


Accelerated, 


Fig.  18.    PROMOTIONAL  RESULTS  IN  A  CITY  FOLLOWING  A  COURSE 
OF  STUDY  ADJUSTED  TO  THE  AVERAGE  CAPACITY  OF  THE  PUPILS 

58  will  be  ahead  of  their  regular  grade,  and  61  will  be  more 
or  less  retarded,  due  to  one  cause  or  another. 

A  poorly  adjusted  course  of  study.  Figure  19  shows  a 
condition  in  a  city  ^  where  the  courses  of  study,  or  the  pro- 
motional examinations,  or  both,  have  not  been  so  adjusted 
as  to  permit  of  the  normal  progress  of  a  large  percentage  of 
the  pupils  in  the  schools.  Here  one  child  in  four  is  not  able 
to  advance  with  his  class,  some  being  two,  three,  and  four 
years  behind  their  proper  age  grade,  while  but  eight  chil- 
dren in  a  thousand  are  one  year  ahead  of  their  regular  grade. 

entitled  "Is  your  Course  adjusted  to  the  Capacity  of  your  Pupils.?"   In 
School  Education,  vol,  34,  p.  5.    (December,  1914.) 

1  From  data  given  in  Table  17  of  the  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public 
School  System  of  Portland.  This  table  included  only  those  one  or  more 
years  behind  or  ahead.  If  half  years  had  been  taken  a  little  more  favorable 
showing  would  have  been  made  for  the  accelerated  pupils,  but  a  less  favor- 
able one  would  have  resulted  for  the  retarded  group. 


29G 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


This  city  also  requires  nine  years  to  complete  the  elemen- 
tary-school courses  of  study.  Such  a  condition  as  is  shown 
in  the  second  figure  is  not  uncommon  in  our  American 
cities,^  though  perhaps  less  common  than  was  the  case  a 
few  years  ago. 

If  the  conception  as  to  the  need  of  adjusting  the  courses  of 
study  to  meet  the  ever-varying  needs  of  the  pupils,  as  was 
stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  is  a  correct  one,  and  modern 
educational  theory  certainly  sustains  it,  then  there  is  need. 


Fig.  19.  PROMOTIONAL  RESULTS  IN  A  CITY  FOLLOWING  A  KNOW- 
LEDGE-TYPE COURSE  OF  STUDY,  AND  WITH  QUARTERLY  PRO- 
MOTIONAL EXAMINATIONS 

in  practically  all  school  systems,  for  a  much  more  careful 
study  of  the  age  distribution  of  pupils  in  the  schools,  with  a 
view  to  a  better  adjustment  of  the  courses  of  instruction  to 
the  needs  of  pupils. 

The  results  of  non-promotion.  The  result  is  a  great 
human  waste.  In  school  systems  having  such  conditions 
as  are  shown  in  Figure  19,  hundreds  of  boys  and  girls  are 
not  where  they  ought  to  be,  and  are  not  doing  what  they 
ought  to  be  doing.    Boys  and  girls  are  in  the  elementary 

*  The  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  School  System  of  Butte,  chap,  r,  and  the 
Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System  of  Salt  Lake  City,  chap,  ix,  both 
contain  much  excellent  data  relating  to  the  age  and  grade  classification 
of  pupils  in  cities  having  much  more  than  the  normal  amount  of  retarda- 
tion. Bachman  and  Ayres  (see  Bibliography)  also  give  much  valuable  data. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       297 

school,  studying  the  puzzles  of  arithmetic  and  the  technicali- 
ties of  English  grammar,  when  they  ought  to  be  in  the  high 
school  or  in  a  vocational  school,  studying  something  better 
suited  to  their  needs  and  more  likely  to  awaken  their  inter- 
est and  enthusiasm.  Boys  and  girls  are  failing  of  promo- 
tion because  of  written  term  examinations  or  courses  of 


I 


HIIIIII 


II 


III 


IV 


VI 


VII 


VIII 


Over  Age 


Normal  Age 


Under  Age 


FiQ.  20.  RETARDATION  AND  ACCELERATION  IN  THE  GRADES 

(From  the  Study  of  Over- Age  and  Progress  in  the  Public  Schools  of  Dayton, 

Ohio.) 

Note  the  increasing  retardation  up  to  the  sixth  grade,  after  wliich  the  com- 
pulsory-attendance exemption  at  fourteen  years  of  age  bea'ins  to  reduce  the 
number  of  over-age  pupils  in  school.  In  the  last  two  years  the  brighter  pupils 
who  remain  (the  eighth  grade  enrollment  was  only  half  of  that  of  the  fourth 
grade)  make  a  better  showing. 

study  unsuited  to  their  needs  and  capacities,  and  are  being 
prepared  to  become  failures  in  life.  They  remain  in  the  lower 
grades,  instead  of  passing  on  up,  congesting  these  grades  and 
interfering  with  the  regular  instruction  of  normal  pupils;  too 
large  for  their  seats;  often  unfit  associates  for  the  smaller 
children;  usually  accomplishing  little;  and  usually  being 
prepared  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  inefficient  and  the  unsuc- 
cessful.  . 


298  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

When  the  end  of  the  compulsory  school  age  comes,  and 
the  compulsory  school  law  no  longer  holds  them,  those  who 
have  failed  to  make  a  success  of  their  school  work  usually 
leave  school.  If  one  charts  the  distribution  of  pupils,  by 
grades,  in  any  school  system  which  has  not  made  a  strong 
effort  to  adjust  its  instruction  to  child  needs,  a  marked 
downward  tendency  will  be  noted  in  the  curve  at  the  close 
of  the  compulsory  school  period.  When  it  is  considered 
with  what  a  meager  equipment  these  young  people  leave 
the  schools,  and  what  a  poor  preparation  they  have  for  in- 
telligent citizenship  or  for  any  really  effective  service,  the 
bad  results  of  such  a  situation  become  evident. 

The  effect  of  such  conditions.  The  effect  of  such  condi- 
tions on  the  children  is  very  bad.  The  mental  effect  of 
failure  is  large  and  tends  to  destroy  self-confidence,  whereas 
the  schools  ought  to  be  training  pupils  for  success  in  life. 
A  boy  who  has  twice  failed  of  promotion  has  probably  been 
prepared  to  become  a  failure  in  life.  The  effect  of  failure  on 
girls  is  equally  depressing. 

Whenever  any  large  degree  of  non-promotion  or  over-age 
is  detected,  the  causes^  for  such  conditions  should  receive 
careful  attention  on  the  part  of  the  principal  and  superin- 
tendent. Unless  such  officers  carefully  study  their  age-  and 
grade-distribution  tables,  they  seldom  realize  the  extent  to 
which  retardation  exists  in  their  own  schools.    Age-  and 

^  Among  the  more  common  causes  of  over-ageness  in  the  schools  are:  — 

1.  Lack  of  previous  educational  opportunities. 

2.  Lack  of  use  of  EngHsh  speech. 

3.  Mental  backwardness,  which  in  time  will  cure  itself. 

4.  Not  been  "reached"  by  teachers. 

5.  Mental  deficiency,  which  will  not  cure  itself. 

6.  Malnutrition,  physical  defects,  or  disease. 

7.  Bad  home  conditions. 

8.  Uniform  promotional  examinations,  and  a  knowledge-conception 
of  the  teaching  process. 

9.  School  not  suited  to  pupil's  needs. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       299 


grade-distribution  tables  should  be  scrutinized  with  care, 
and  the  different  schools  should  be  studied  and  compared 
with  other  schools.  Sometimes  such  study  will  reveal  slow 
schools,  sometimes  it  will  reveal  the  need  of  "speeding-up" 
the  whole  school  system. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  data  given  by  Ayres, 
shows  the  effects  of  different  annual  promotion  rates  in  a 
school  system,  assuming  that  deaths  and  withdrawals  are 
balanced  by  new  pupils  entering :  — 


Promotion 
rate 

Years  required 

for  child  to 

complete  eight 

grades 

Failures  among 
each  1000  chil- 
dren in  eight 
years 

Number  of  chil- 
dren in  each 
1000  failing  in 
eight  years 

Children  one  year 

or  more  above 

normal  age  for 

grades 

100 

8.00 

0 

0 

0 

99 

8.08 

70 

68 

3.4 

98 

8.16 

140 

132 

6.7 

97 

8.24 

210 

192 

9.9 

96    " 

8.33 

280 

249 

12.9 

95 

8.42 

350 

.302 

15.9 

94 

8.50 

420 

352 

18.7 

93 

8.60 

490 

398 

21.4 

92 

8.69 

560 

442 

24.0 

91 

8.78 

630 

483 

26.4 

90 

8.89 

700 

522 

28.8 

89 

8.98 

770 

558 

31.1 

88 

9.09 

840 

591 

33.3 

87 

9.19 

910 

623 

35.4 

86 

9.30 

980 

652 

37.4 

85 

9.41 

1050 

679 

39.4 

84 

9.52 

1120 

705 

41.2 

83 

9.63 

1190 

729 

43.0 

82 

9.75 

1260 

751 

44.8 

81 

9.87 

1330 

771 

46.4 

80 

10.00 

1400 

790 

48.0 

The  super-normal  child.  The  presence  of  large  numbers 
of  over-age  pupils  in  a  room,  who  consume  time  and  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  is  not  fair  to  other  children. 
Especially  to  the  boy  or  girl  of  large  capacity,  who,  rather 


300  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

than  the  slower  one,  deserves  special  attention,  is  the 
effect  bad.  These  children  of  super-normal  ability  should 
receive  special  instruction,  be  given  work  up  to  their  capac- 
ities, and  be  pushed  along  into  the  high  school  as  rapidly  as 
their  maturity  will  warrant.  While  the  average  child  needs 
good  attention,  for  such  will  form  the  great  bulk  of  our 
citizenship,  and  the  child  of  less  than  normal  ability  needs 
special  instruction  in  special  classes,  as  much  for  the  welfare 
of  other  children  as  his  own,  the  really  important  child 
in  the  schools  —  the  one  most  worth  while  to  the  future 
state  —  is  the  boy  or  girl  who  is  decidedly  quicker,  brighter, 
and  surer  than  the  average.  We  have  for  a  long  time  based 
our  instruction  on  the  needs  of  the  "average  child,"  and 
we  have  recently  begun  to  direct  some  attention  to  the 
needs  of  the  child  mentally  below  normal,  but  so  far  but 
little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  needs  of  the  super- 
normal child,  —  the  child  who  represents  the  best  asset  of 
public  education.  It  is  from  this  class  of  children  we  must 
draw  our  leaders  for  the  future. 

2.  Promotional  plans 

More  frequent  promotions.  The  earliest  and  most  com- 
mon attempts  to  remedy  the  conditions  arising  from  courses 
of  study  not  being  fully  adjusted  to  individual  needs  have 
been  along  the  line  of  increasing  the  flexibility  of  the  promo- 
tional machinery,  thus  tending  to  break  up  the  so-called 
*' lock-step"  in  the  public  schools.  Under  the  annual-pro- 
motion plan  the  child  who  fails  of  promotion  at  the  end  of 
any  year  must  repeat  the  grade.  This  is  wasteful  of  both 
the  school's  time  and  the  child's  time,  and  often  has  a  most 
discouraging  effect  on  the  pupil.  Similarly,  a  bright  pupil 
cannot  easily  go  forward  under  an  annual  system,  because 
a  whole  year  must  be  jumped  by  so  doing. 

In  all  of  our  better  school  systems,  even  in  small  cities. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS      301 

annual  promotion  has  now  been  replaced  by  semiannual  pro- 
motions/ the  grade  being  divided  into  two  sections,  half  a 
year  apart.  In  some  of  our  larger  city  school  systems,  where 
large  buildings  permit  of  such  subdivisions,  each  grade  is 
subdivided  into  four  sections,  thus  insuring  classes  only  ten 
weeks  apart,  so  that  failure  to  advance  or  the  ability  to  ad- 
vance more  rapidly  requires  a  loss  or  an  advance  of  but  one 
fourth  of  a  year,  instead  of  a  whole  year.^  The  semiannual 
promotion  plan  is  now  perhaps  the  most  common  of  all  plans, 
while  the  quarterly  promotion  plan,  if  coupled  with  the 
maintenance  of  an  ungraded  room  in  each  building,  permits 
of  a  very  flexible  promotional  scheme,  under  which,  if  prop- 
erly handled,  pupils  may  advance  at  almost  any  rate.  The 
chief  difficulty  with  the  quarterly  promotion  plan  is  that  it 
is  not  possible  in  small  buildings,  or  in  a  small  school  system. 

The  Batavia  plan.  Under  any  of  these  plans,  however, 
some  pupils  will  fail  to  make  progress  with  the  group,  though 
the  quarterly  promotional  plan  naturally  presents  the  fewest 
objections  in  this  respect.  The  Batavia  plan,  of  which  much 
has  been  said  in  recent  years,  is  an  attempt  to  overcome 
this  difficulty,  while  retaining  the  semiannual  promotion 
plan  for  all. 

Figure  21  illustrates  the  idea.  The  plan  has  been  in  use 
for  many  years  at  Batavia,  New  York,  and  it  was  worked 
out  there  originally  not  so  much  as  a  promotional  plan  as  a 
device  to  make  use  of  a  number  of  very  large  classrooms. 
The  plan  was  finally  extended  to  include  both  elementary 

^  See  Report  of  the  Baltimore  Commission,  pp.  89-90,  for  a  brief  state* 
ment  as  to  the  advantages  of  the  two-class  plan  of  instruction.  For  a  much 
fuller  discussion  of  the  development  of  more  flexible  promotional  plans, 
see  extracts  from  the  Annual  Reports  of  Superintendent  W.  T.  Harris,  of 
St.  Louis,  between  1869  and  1875,  reproduced  in  Report  of  the  U.S.  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  1898-99,  i,  302-30.  The  discussions  reproduced 
here  are  important. 

2  St.  Louis  has  been  a  pioneer  in  the  establishment  and  operation  of 
such  a  quarterly  plan. 


302 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


and  high  schools.  In  classes  of  fifty  children  or  less,  it  was 
provided  that  one  half  of  the  teacher's  time  should  be  free 
from  class  work,  and  be  devoted  to  helping  the  pupils  in 
their  studies.  When  classes  exceeded  fifty,  a  second  teacher 
was  put  in  to  assist,  recitation  work  and  assisting  pupils 
going  on  simultaneously.  A  decrease  in  the  amount  of  class 
recitation  work  and  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  pupil 
assistance  and  directed  study  are  the  essential  features  of 
the  plan.^  Figure  21  shows  how  even  progress  for  all  pupils 


Feb. 


Mar.      Apr.      May 

X 


June 


Fig.  21.  THE  B ATA VI A  PLAN 

Showing  a  half-year's  progress  for  all  pupils  under  this  plan.    The  coaching  of  the  slow 
pupils  by  the  assistant  teacher  makes  this  equality  of  progress  possible. 

is  maintained.  The  plan  tends  to  very  materially  decrease 
retardation  and  non-promotion,  and  in  this  lies  its  great 
advantage.  It  probably  also  tends  toward  producing  aver- 
age results,  and  in  this  neglects  the  interests  of  the  brighter 
pupils,  though  it  might  be  possible  to  so  use  the  plan  as  to 
advance  the  brighter  pupils  more  rapidly. 

The  so-called  North  Denver  plan  represents  the  reverse 
of  the  Batavia  idea,  the  brighter  pupils  there,  rather  than 
the  slow  ones,  being  singled  out  for  special  help. 

The  Pueblo  plan.    This  plan  might  be  considered  as  a 

development  of  the  Batavia  plan,  except  that  instead  of 

large  classes,  small  classes  and  small  groups  within  classes 

are  used.   It  is  also  equally  applicable  to  high  school  work. 

Under  the  best  of  conditions  the  plan  is  as  represented  in 

*  See  short  descriptive  article  on,  in  Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Education, 
vol.  I,  p.  331. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS      303 

Figure  22.   The  results  here  are  what  are  obtained  in  some 
of  our  private  schools,  where  each  pupil  advances  at  his  own 


s 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr., 

May 

June 

A 

B 

r, 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

T 

J 

K 

T, 

M 

N 

,..,   ;■ 

■■ 

O 

Fig.  22.    THE  PUEBLO  PLAN;  INDIVIDUAL  PROGRESS 

Each  line  represents  the  progress  of  a  single  pupil  during  a  half-year.  Pupil  A 
coTered  almost  a  year's  work  during  the  time,  while  the  elowest  pupil,  J,  made  slightly 
less  than  a  quarter  of  a  year's  progress. 

speed.  As  originally  used  in  Pueblo,  Colorado,^  the  indi- 
vidual idea  was  kept  prominent.  In  ordinary  use  the  plan 
is  better  represented  by  Figure  23,  which  shows  a  class,  say 


Sept.       Oct.      Nov.      Dec.       Jan.       Feb.       Mar.      Apr.      May       June 


Pig.  23.    THE  PUEBLO  PLAN;  GROUP  PROGRESS 

This  shows  the  plan  as  used  in  large  schools,  the  pupils  being  grouped  for  administra- 
tive purposes  into  a  number  of  groups,  and  pupils  being  moved  from  one  group  to  another 
as  tliey  advance  or  fail  to  advance.  The  five  different  groups  made  different  rates  of 
progress  during  the  half-year  here  shown. 

of  forty  pupils,  grouped  into  B.ve  groups  progressing  at  five 
different  rates  of  speed.   These  groups  naturally  are  very 

*  See  article  on,  by  P.  W.  Search,  in  Bibliography. 


304 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


fluid,  and  pupils  pass  from  one  to  another  as  their  progress 
or  lack  of  progress  indicates  as  desirable.  In  this  form  it  is 
practically  the  same  as  the  so-called  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey, 
plan. 

This  plan  makes  excellent  provision  for  the  slow,  the 
average,  and  the  gifted  pupil,  and  for  all  gradations  in  be- 
tween them,  but  it  requires  gradual  introduction,  a  rather 
superior  body  of  teachers,  relatively  small  classes,  and  good 
supervision  to  secure  good  results  under  it.  Under  this  plan 
non-promotion  is  practically  eliminated. 

The  new  Cambridge  plan.  This  represents  a  type  of  pro- 
motional plan  which  is  now  much  more  common  than  for- 


A 

Basal 

] 

L 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

1 

Course 

1    5 

I    3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

8  Years 

B 

ParaUel 

1 

2 

3 

.  4 

6 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Course 

1        1 

1        1 

6  Years 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Pig.  24.    THE  NEW   CAMBRIDGE  PLAN 

Two  parallel  elementary-school  courses,  with  one  third  more  work  assigned  for  each  year 
in  Course  B  than  in  Course  A. 


merly.  The  essential  features  of  it  are  the  provision  of  two 
parallel  courses.  One  is  known  as  the  basal  or  eight-year 
course,  and  the  other  is  a  parallel  course  intended  specifi- 
cally for  the  gifted  pupil,  making  it  possible  for  such  to 
cover  the  eight  years  of  the  elementary-school  course  in  six 
years. ^   Pupils  who  cannot  progress  as  fast  as  the  eight-year 

1  The  plan  was  introduced  in  1910,  coincidently  with  the  reduction  of 
the  elementary-school  course  from  nine  to  eight  years.  Previous  to  that 
time,  for  many  years,  this  city  used  a  plan  by  which  the  first  three  grades 
were  the  same  for  all,  with  a  chance  to  do  the  remaining  six  years  in  any- 
where from  four  to  six  years,  pupils  crossing  over  from  one  course  to  another 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       305 

course  naturally  must  fail  of  promotion,  though  here,  due 
to  each  year's  work,  except  the  last,  being  divided  into  three 
grades,  each  failure  means  the  loss  of  but  one-third  of  a 
year  in  time.  But  two  grades  are  provided  in  the  last  year, 
because  promotion  to  the  high  school  can  take  place  but 
twice  a  year. 

The  two  courses  are  so  arranged,  it  will  be  noticed,  that 
crossing  from  one  to  the  other  may  be  made  at  five  points 


Pia.  25.    THE  PORTLAND  PLAN 

Without  gain  or  loss,  and  at  other  points  the  difference  is  not 
great.  This  permits  of  a  rate  of  progress  through  the  grades 
at  anywhere  from  six  to  eight  years.  The  Portland,  Oregon, 
plan,  shown  in  Figure  25,  illustrates  the  same  idea,  except 
that  it  will  be  seen  that  there  the  readjustment  without  loss 
occurs  every  one  and  a  half  years. 

The  idea  underlying  the  North  Denver  plan  is  the  same 

at  the  middle  of  the  grammar-school  course.  For  all  the  years  of  trial  under 
the  old  plan,  statistics  from  the  three  high  schools  showed  that  those  who 
completed  the  six  years  of  grammar  school  in  four  years  did  best,  the  five- 
year  pupils  next,  and  the  six-year  pupils  poorest. 


306 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


High  School 

Promotion  by 

subjectB. 

Mtmy  coozses  of 

(Iifferent4ype9 


Intermediate 

School 

PromotiOD  by 

subjects. 

Academic.  Business 

Household-Arts,  and 

Vocational  Courses 


^ 


i  i 

H     2 


03  ;S 

I  I 

l-l  00 

°  I 

a  ■S 

"I 

to  tn 


Est    a 

a 


as  that  underlying  the  new  Cam- 
bridge and  the  Portland  plans, 
namely,  that  of  giving  special  at- 
tention to  the  more  gifted  pupils. 
The  recent  spread  in  the  use  of 
such  plans  is  a  most  encouraging 
sign  for  the  future  of  our  demo- 
cratic society.  No  form  of  govern- 
ment is  so  in  need  of  encouraging 
its  best  and  developing  leaders 
for  its  national  life  as  is  a  gov- 
ernment such  as  ours.  The  blun- 
dering and  waste  in  governmental 
affairs  with  us  to-day  is,  in  part,  a 
resultant  of  the  mass  education 
which  has  been  so  common  in  the 
past.  A  democracy  is  greatly  in 
need  of  leaders,  and  it  is  from 
among  the  gifted  children  that 
leaders  must  be  drawn.  Their 
educational  advantages  should  be 
of  the  best. 

The  differentiated-course  plan. 
The  fundamental  idea  underly- 
ing this  plan  is  that  of  advancing 
all  normal  pupils  evenly  during 
the  first  six  years,  and  then, 
by  a  differentiation  of  courses 
and  promotion  by  subjects  after 
the  sixth  year,  so  to  adapt  the 
courses  of  instruction  to  the  needs 
of  the  pupils  as  to  retain  and  ad- 
vance regularly  as  many  as  pos- 
sible. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS      307 

The  essential  features  of  this  plan  are  shown  in  Figure  26, 
which  illustrates  the  plan  as  followed  for  some  years  at 
Santa  Barbara,  California.  Three  parallel  courses  of  instruc- 
tion are  provided  for  the  first  six  grades,  each  requiring  dif- 
ferent amounts  of  work  and  intended  to  be  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  slow,  the  average,  and  the  gifted,  and  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  tend  to  eliminate  non-promotion  and  retarda- 
tion in  these  elementary-school  grades.  Course  C  includes 
the  minimum  essentials  in  the  fundamental  elementary- 
school  subjects  which  are  to  be  required  of  all,  while  each 
of  the  other  courses  includes  larger  amounts  of  work,  or  a 
greater  enrichment  of  the  instruction,  or  both.  Instead  of 
providing  only  for  the  average  and  the  gifted,  as  in  the 
Cambridge,  Portland,  and  North  Denver  plans,  this  plan 
makes  a  third  group  for  the  slow.  Unlike  these  three  plans, 
though,  it  makes  no  definite  provision  for  the  more  rapid 
advancement  of  the  gifted.  The  important  features  of 
this  plan  are  the  differentiation  of  courses,  the  introduc- 
tion of  departmental  instruction,  and  the  promotion  by 
subjects  in  the  last  two  years  of  the  usual  grammar-school 
course. 

The  Baltimore  experiment.  An  important  modification 
of  this  differentiated-course  plan  was  introduced  into  the 
schools  of  Baltimore  by  Superintendent  Van  Sickle.  There 
all  pupils  advanced  along  the  three  lines,  as  shown  by 
Figiue  26,  until  the  close  of  the  sixth  grade.  A  number 
of  the  schools  continued  grade  instruction  through  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grades,  then  promoting  to  the  high 
school,  or  the  pupils  went  out  into  the  world  at  this 
point.  At  a  number  of  places  in  the  city,  however,  central 
schools,  taught  by  a  departmental  plan  of  instruction  and 
with  an  especially  rich  curriculum  were  provided,  and  to 
these  the  gifted  children  (ordinarily  Course  A  pupils),  with 
the  consent  of  their  parents,  were  sent  for  better  and 


308  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRA.TION 

more  rapid  instruction.  The  curriculum  for  such  schools 
was  greatly  enriched,  and  was  so  arranged  that  a  pupil 
might  complete  the  grades  seven  to  ten  inclusive  in  three 
years,  thus  saving  a  year  of  public  school  life  and  ena- 
bling the  pupil  to  enter  college  at  seventeen  instead  of  at 
eighteen. 

The  Mannheim  plan  of  grading.  The  Santa  Barbara  and 
the  Baltimore  types  of  differentiated  courses  for  different 
classes  of  pupils  correspond  closely  with  the  plan  followed, 
since  1899,  at  Mannheim,  a  commercial  and  manufacturing 
city  on  the  Rhine,  in  Baden,  Germany,  and  which  is  shown 
in  the  figure  on  the  opposite  page.  This  plan  has  attracted 
much  attention  in  Germany.  It  arose  as  an  attempt  to  carry 
the  pupils  through  the  grades  more  rapidly,  so  that  more 
might  finish  the  highest  grade  before  the  close  of  the  com- 
pulsory school  period. 

The  plan  in  its  essentials  consists  of  two  systems  of 
smaller-unit  special  classes,  one  known  as  "furthering 
classes"  (B),  and  the  other  as  "auxiliary  classes  "  (C).  These 
run  parallel  to  the  regular  classes  of  the  Volksschule  (A) ,  for 
children  who  show  themselves  too  slow  or  too  weak  to  do 
the  work  of  the  A  course.  About  ten  per  cent  of  the  children 
in  the  Volksschule  in  Mannheim  are  in  these  "furthering 
classes."  In  addition,  two  systems  of  classes  for  the  more 
gifted  are  also  found,  one  (P)  for  those  who  are  to  pass  to 
the  secondary  schools  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  the  other  (Sp.) 
for  those  who  are  to  remain  in  these  peoples*  schools.  The 
object  of  these  differentiations  in  courses,  as  explained  by  the 
superintendent  of  the  Mannheim  schools,  is  "to  carry  for- 
ward on  a  level,  through  the  same  course  of  study  and  within 
the  compulsory  school  age,  from  six  to  fourteen,  all  children 
obliged  by  law  to  attend  the  folk-schools." 


§p.vn 


vm 


t 


t  t 


S\>Pt 

QJigCiSi' 


I 


Pig.  27.    CLASS  ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  VOLKSSCHULE  AT 
MANNHEIM,   GERMANY 

A.  Regular  classes,  constituting  eight  grades. 
Sp  rr  Language  classes  for  gifted  pupils. 
Sp  P=:  Preparatory  language  classes. 

P  ==  Preparatory  classes  for  pupils  wishing  to  enter  the  Gjannasium,  the 
Realgymnasium,  the  Oberrealschide  and  the  Reformschule. 

B.  Furthering  classes,  constituting  five,  six,  or  seven  grades,  the  distinguishing 

feature  of  the  Mannheim  system. 
L  =  Leaving  or  Finishing  classes  for  pupils  who  will  soon  reach  the  limit  of 

compulsory  school  attendance. 
Prr  Furthering  classes  for  slow  pupils. 

C.  Auxiliary  classes  for  mentally  defective  pupils. 
A  =  Auxiliary  classes. 

A  P  =1  Preparatory  class. 

I  =  Institution  for  idiots  and  imbeciles. 

>■    Destination  of  regularly  promoted  pupils. 

:>    Destination  of  demoted  pupils. 

The  blocks  representing  the  different  grades  also  represent  a  school  year  in  time. 
I  rr  Idiot  Asyluni. 
G    =  Gymnasium         \ 
Rg  z=  Realgymnasium  (  Higher 
O    =  Oberrealschule    i  Schools. 
R  =  Reformschule      ' 

(From  a  German  school  report.) 


310  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

3.    Differentiations  in  school  work 

New  types  of  schools.  In  addition  to  the  differentiations 
in  courses  shown  in  Figure  26,  which  attempt  to  provide  for 
the  needs  of  the  normal  pupil,  many  of  our  cities  have  also 
created  new  types  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  certain 
special  classes  of  children  who,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
are  not  likely  to  partake  advantageously  of  the  instruction 
provided  in  the  regular  classrooms  for  ordinary  children. 
The  need  of  such  classes  is  often  dictated  just  as  much  by 
reasons  of  economy  in  the  instruction  of  normal  pupils  as  by 
the  needs  of  the  special  classes  taught.  A  mere  enumera^ 
tion  of  the  more  important  of  these  is  all  that  can  be 
attempted  here.^ 

1.  Non-English  speaking.  For  children  and  youths  of  normal 
ability  but  who,  because  of  foreign  birth,  have  not  a  com- 
mand of  the  English  language.  Often  subdivided  on  an  age 
basis. 

2.  Supplementary  classes.  For  "left-overs,"  who  are  organized 
into  special  classes  and  taught  separately,  and  are  admitted 
to  the  high  school  as  such,  though  they  have  not  completed 
the  elementary-school  course.  Sometimes  called  Transfer 
classes.^ 

3.  Over-age  classes.  For  those  markedly  over-age  in  the  grades, 
to  bring  up  their  deficiencies  and  to  adapt  the  work  better  to 
their  needs. 

^.  Ungraded  classes.  For  elementary-school  pupils  who,  for  any 
reason,  are  at  a  disadvantage  in  the  grades,  or  who  need  extra 
help  to  enable  them  to  step  forward  into  a  more  advanced 
class. 

^  For  a  more  detailed  description  of  the  most  of  these  special-type 
schools,  see  Van  Sickle,  Witmer,  and  Ayres,  chap,  vii,  or  the  volmne  by 
Holmes.  Also  see  special  articles  in  Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Education. 
The  article  by  Heater  describes  those  schools  established  in  Pittsburg,  and 
that  by  Christensen  those  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

2  See  Bridging  the  Gap ;  the  Transfer  Class.  Harvard -Newton  Bulletins, 
no.  III.  (1915.)  A  study  of  such  classes  in  the  Newton,  Massachusetts, 
schools. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS      311 

5.  Vacation  schools.  For  tHe  education  of  children  during  the 
summer  vacation,  along  somewhat  different  lines  from  the 
regular  instruction  of  the  school  year,  together  with  special 
classes  for  children  who  desire  to  make  up  back  work  or  to 
move  forward  more  rapidly. 

6.  Disciplinary  classes.  For  refractory  children  of  either  sex,  in 
part  to  relieve  the  regular  classroom  of  these  troublesome 
cases,  and  in  part  to  adjust  work  and  discipline  to  the  needs 
of  such  children. 

7.  Parental  schools.  For  incorrigibles  and  confirmed  truants;  for 
those  not  capable  of  being  handled  in  the  regular  school  or 
in  6.    (See  pages  367-69  for  further  description.) 

8.  Open-air  classes.  For  tubercular  and  anaemic  children. 

9.  Schools  for  crippled  children.  Special  instruction  in  small 
classes,  adapted  to  the  needs  and  possibilities  of  crippled 
children,  and  without  reference  to  the  regular  courses  of 
instruction.   (See  book  by  Reeves.) 

10.  Classes  for  children  with  special  defects.  For  stammerers  and 
stutterers,  to  correct  speech  defects.  The  teacher  may  travel 
from  school  to  school,  giving  instruction  to  such  children, 
instead  of  the  children  being  collected  in  a  special  school. 

11.  Classes  for  the  oral  instruction  of  deaf  children.  Special  small 
classes  with  specially  trained  teachers,  to  enable  such  children 
to  learn  to  speak  and  to  read  the  lips. 

12.  Classes  for  blind  children.  Special  instruction,  adapted  to  the 
needs  and  possibilities  of  blind  children. 

13.  Classes  for  sub-normal  children.  Special  instruction,  suited  to 
the  needs  and  possibilities  of  children  deficient  in  mental 
capacity,  but  capable  of  sufficient  education  to  make  them 
self-supporting,  and  of  training  in  habits  and  physical  control. 

H.  Classes  for  epileptic  children.  Special  part-time  classes  for 
educable  epileptics. 

15.  Special  classes  for  gifted  children.  Usually  some  form  of  the 
Baltimore  plan,  by  which  special  classes  for  gifted  children 
are  formed,  to  enable  them  to  progress  more  rapidly. 

16,  Industrial  classes.  ^  A  recent  development,  and  one  promising 

1  The  field  of  industrial  and  trade  education  represents  a  large  recent 
development  of  public  education,  which  it  is  not  possible  to  consider  in  any 
detail  in  the  space  of  such  a  book  as  this.  Leavitt  gives  many  excellent 
examples  of  industrial  schools,  and  Snedden  states  well  the  argument  for 
such  work  as  a  part  of  the  public  school  system.  Cole  and  Draper  are  also 
good  on  this  point. 


S12  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

much  for  the  future.  Either  special  courses  running  through 
the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  grades,  as  shown  in  Figure 
26,  or  special  classes  for  children  in  certain  parts  of  cities, 
and  substituting  industrial  work  for  some  of  the  regular  in- 
struction of  the  school.  Some  of  these  have  been  organized 
as  part-time  industrial  schools,  and  some  as  continuation 
schools  after  the  eighth  grade.  The  future  is  practically  cer- 
tain to  see  a  large  development  in  this  type  of  school. 

17.  Trade  schools.  Of  secondary  grade,  for  instruction  in  the 
fundamentals  underlying  the  practice  of  the  more  common 
trades  and  occupations  for  both  sexes. 

18.  Special  art  schools.  Centers  where  pupils  who  show  special 
aptitude  for  drawing  may  receive  special  instruction  under 
specially  capable  teachers. 

19.  Evening  schools.  These  exist  in  many  cities,  and  are  very 
useful  for  extension  and  industrial  instruction  and  for  teach- 
ing the  use  of  the  English  tongue  to  older  pupils. 

20.  Adult  instruction.  As  yet  but  little  developed,  but  likely  in 
the  future  to  become  an  important  part  of  our  educational 
service. 

21.  Home  schools.  Schools  for  girls  of  upper  grammar-school  age, 
and  designed  to  give  special  preparation  for  home-keeping. 
These  are  special  schools,  in  residences,  and  are  in  a  way  a 
further  development  of  the  domestic-science  instruction. 

22.  Neighborhood  schools.  Schools  organized  to  study  and  meet 
the  needs  of  both  pupils  and  parents,  considering  their  hered- 
ity, experiences,  environments,  and  material  and  spiritual 
needs.  1 

4.  Fundamental  reorganizations 
Reorganizing  the  upper  grades.  Figure  26  shows  a  type 
of  reorganization  of  the  upper  grades  which  has  become 
quite  common  in  the  western  part  of  the  United  States. 
This  consists  of  abolishing  grade  instruction  in  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades,  and  taking  the  ninth  grade  out  of  the 
high  school,  and  then  combining  these  three  grades  in  a 
separate  building  and  designating  the  new  school  as   an 

1  For  a  good  description  of  such  a  school,  see  the  Report  of  the  Portland 
School  Survey,  chap,  xi,  pp.  274-78. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS      313 

intermediate  school  or  an  intermediate  high  school.  A  num- 
ber of  more  or  less  different  and  divergent  courses,  such  as 
literary,  academic,  business,  manual  training,  household 
arts,  and  pre  vocational,  are  offered;  instruction  is  conducted 
by  the  departmental  plan;  the  teachers  represent  some 
degree  of  special  preparation,  usually  being  college  gradu- 
ates; the  equipment  resembles  a  high  school  in  kind;  and 
promotion  is  by  subject  instead  of  by  grade. 

Marked  progress  in  improving  the  work  in  the  primary 
school  has  been  made  during  the  past  one  or  two  decades, 
but  the  upper  grades  of  the  grammar  school  have  usually 
represented  the  least  progressive  part  of  the  whole  school 
system.^  This  reorganization  of  the  work  of  the  upper 
grades  attempts  not  only  to  remedy  this  long-standing  de- 
fect, but,  by  providing  for  a  more  natural  transition,  to 
reduce  the  mortality  in  the  first  year  of  the  high  school  as 
well. 

Theory  of  the  intermediate  school.  The  theory  underlying 
the  intermediate  school  is  that  the  upper  grammar-school 
grades,  if  properly  taught,  require  such  a  degree  of  prepara- 
tion that  grade  instruction  cannot  be  eflBcient;  that  the 
grade-teacher  system  can  and  does  take  little  account 
of  the  gradual  differentiation  in  tastes  and  capacities  and  in 
the  future  needs  of  children  which  takes  place  after  about  the 
age  of  twelve;  that  the  grade-teacher  system  makes  no  real 
preparation  for  beginning  high-school  work,  with  a  resulting 
heavy  mortality  in  the  ninth  grade;  that  the  rational  time 
for  an  important  change  in  the  school  life  is  when  the  pupil 
is  leaving  childhood;  and  that  the  period  of  early  adolescence 
calls  for  a  different  type  of  treatment  from  that  provided  by 
the  usual  grade  instruction. 

The  great  argument  for  the  intermediate  school,  however, 

1  The  article  by  C.  W.  Eliot,  cited  in  the  references  of  the  preceding 
chapter,  is  good  on  this  point. 


814  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

lies  in  the  resulting  improvement  in  the  quality  of  instruc- 
tion and  in  the  adaptations  to  individual  capacities  and 
needs  which  result  from  the  provision  of  intermediate-school 
training.^  It  offers  to  pupils  the  advantages  of  departmental 
school  work;  it  offers  the  possibility  of  options,  in  the  matter 
of  both  studies  and  courses;  it  permits  of  the  adaptation  of 
instruction  to  the  needs  of  both  sexes;  it  tends  to  postpone 
for  a  year  the  age  of  leaving  school;  and  it  offers  opportuni- 
ties for  the  development  of  a  type  of  vocational  work  not 
possible  under  the  present  plan  of  grade-school  organiza- 
tion. ^ 

A  reorganized  and  expanded  school  system.  This  type 
of  reorganization  in  the  upper  grades  almost  of  necessity 
forces  a  greater  expansion  in  the  secondary-school  curricu- 
lum of  the  city.  Wherever  introduced  there  has  been  a 
marked  gain  in  numbers,  not  only  in  those  continuing 
through  the  grades,  but  in  those  entering  the  high  school  as 
well.  New  provisions  for  secondary  education  usually  have 
had  to  be  made,  and,  in  a  number  of  Western  cities,  the 
demand  has  come  for  an  expansion  of  the  high  school  up- 
ward, as  well  as  outward.  The  city  of  Los  Angeles  repre- 
sents a  good  example  of  a  city  which  has  experienced  the 
results  of  such  a  reorganization  of  its  instruction,  and  a 
number  of  California  cities  have  experienced  a  similar  ex- 
pansion. The  Los  Angeles  school  system  is  now  organized 
as  follows :  — 

1.  Kindergartens  —  one  and  a  half  years. 

2.  Elementary  schools  —  six  years  —  grade  instruction. 

^  See  the  Report  of  the  National  Education  Association  Committee  on 
Economy  of  Time  in  Education,  Bulletin  no.  38,  1913,  U.S.  Bureau  of 
Education,  pp.  23-25,  for  a  good  statement  of  the  arguments  for  a  reor- 
ganization of  elementary  education  after  the  idea  here  presented. 

*  Holmes  gives  a  diagram  on  page  157  of  part  i  of  his  book,  showing  the 
differentiations  in  the  school  system  of  New  Britain,  Connecticut,  and  the 
life  career  to  which  the  instruction  leads,  which  will  be  interesting  to  look 
up  at  this  point. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS      315 

3.  Intermediate  schools  —  three  years  —  departmental  instruc- 
tion —  five  different  courses  provided. 

4.  A  number  of  special-type  schools,  such  as  ungraded  rooms, 
over-age  classes,  disciplinary  classes,  parental  schools,  schools 
for  the  deaf,  classes  for  sub-normal  children,  evening  schools, 
and  neighborhood  schools. 

5.  Eight  high  schools,  some  cosmopolitan  and  some  specialized. 
High  school  courses  proper  cover  three  years. 

6.  Junior  college  work  ^  in  certain  high  schools,  offering  the 
freshman  and  sophomore  years  of  instruction  for  all  children 
in  the  city. 

A  reorganized  and  redirected  school  system.  The  schools 
at  Newton,  Massachusetts,  offer  an  excellent  example  of  a 
reorganized  and  redirected  school  system,  the  fundamental 
idea  kept  in  mind  here  being  to  offer  an  education  suited  to 
the  needs  and  future  prospects  of  every  educable  child  in 
the  community.  Instead  of  continuing  to  offer  a  traditional 
type  of  elementary  and  secondary  school  instruction,  of 
which  those  who  found  it  of  use  to  them  could  partake,  the 
community  finally  committed  itself  to  the  thoroughly  sound 
and  thoroughly  just  principle  that  every  child  of  school  age 
in  the  community  should  be  offered  an  education  of  a  kind 
that  would  best  suit  his  educational  needs  and  future  pros- 
pects. 

Having  become  committed  to  the  idea  of  educating  prop- 
erly all  boys  and  girls  in  the  community,  the  school  authori- 
ties began  the  establishment  of  schools,  classes,  and  courses 
of  such  a  nature  that  every  boy  and  girl  might  be  provided 
with  an  education  of  such  a  type  as  each  could  use  to 
greatest  advantage.  The  fact  that  different  educational 
treatment  was  required  to  deal  successfully  with  different 
types  of  boys  and  girls,  and  to  prepare  for  the  different  voca- 
tions and  professions,  it  was  felt  furnished  no  reasonable 
ground  for  discrimination  between  children,  and  especially 

1  See  an  interesting  article  in  the  School  Review,  vol.  23,  pp.  465-73 
(September,  1915),  on  "The  Junior  College  in  California." 


316 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


according  to  the  usual  plan  of  saying  that  those  who  can  be 
educated  the  traditional  way  shall  be  educated,  while  those 
who  cannot  take  that  kind  of  education  will  have  to  go 
without  any. 

The  chart  showing  the  school  system  as  it  was  up  to  1905, 
and  the  reorganizations  effected  since  that  time,  explains 
the  reorganization  and  redirection  of  this  school  system.^ 
Such  a  reorganization  and  redirection  is  in  harmony  with 
all  sound  educational  theory  as  to  individual  differences,  and 


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Fig.  29.    RESULT  OF  THE  REDIRECTION  OF  THE  NEWTON  SCHOOLS 

Showing  the  percentage  of  increase  each  year,  compared  with  1898,  in  the 
number  of  pupils  over  fourteen  —  voluntary  attendants — and  of  pupils  between 
Beven  and  fourteen  —  the  compulsory  school  age.  The  marked  gain  in  increase 
of  voluntary  attendants  since  1907  is  the  result  of  the  school  policy  to  educate 
as  many  as  possible  of  the  youth  of  the  city.  The  unusual  increase  of  seven- 
to  fourteen-year  old  pupils  in  1912  was  due  to  an  influx  of  200  children  from 
the  Parochial  School,  few  of  whom  were  over  fourteen. 

all  political  theory  as  to  the  rights  of  individuals  to  partake 
of  the  advantages  of  public  education,  and  represents  one 
of  the  most  significant  attempts  so  far  made  to  break  up  the 
aristocratic  theory  of  education  and  to  substitute  in  its  place 

^  C.  S.  Meek,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913, 
pp.  172-78,  describes  the  reorganization  and  expansion  of  the  high-school 
work  of  Boise,  Idaho,  and  shows  a  somewhat  similar  adaptation  of  school 
work  to  local  community  needs. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       317 

a  truly  democratic  one.  The  community  efficiency  of  such 
a  school  system  is  greatly  increased  by  such  an  expansion  of 
ejffort,  and,  in  consequence,  its  maintenance  costs  must  ma- 
terially rise. 

The  Gary  plan.  A  still  more  fundamental  reorganization, 
or  rather  a  construction  along  new  lines  from  the  bottom 
upward,  is  represented  by  the  school  system  recently  built 
up  at  Gary,  Indiana.  This  represents  one  of  the  most  origi- 
nal pieces  of  constructive  work  ever  attempted  in  American 
education.  The  essential  idea  underlying  the  plan  is  *'  the  use 
of  all  the  educational  opportunities  of  the  city,  all  the  time, 
for  all  the  people,  and  in  a  way  which  reveals  to  young  and 
old  that  what  they  are  doing  is  worth  while." 

The  schools  run  on  a  four-quarter  plan,  each  quarter  of 
twelve  weeks'  duration;  the  school  plant  is  a  playground, 
garden,  workshop,  social  center,  library,  and  a  traditional- 
type  school  all  combined  in  one;  the  elementary-school  and 
the  high-school  work  are  both  given  under  the  same  roof; 
some  of  the  high-school  subjects  begin  as  early  as  the  fifth 
grade;  specialization  in  the  instruction  and,  in  consequence, 
departmental  instruction  run  through  the  schools;  classes 
in  the  special  outdoor  activities  and  shop  work  are  carried 
on  at  the  same  time  as  indoor  classes,  thus  doubling  the 
capacity  of  the  school  plant;  the  school  day  is  eight  hours 
long,  with  the  school  plant  open  also  all  day  Saturday;  con- 
tinuation schools  and  social  and  recreational  centers  are 
conducted  in  the  same  plant  in  the  evenings;  and  play  and 
vocational  work  are  important  features  of  the  instruction  in 
all  schools.  Each  school  is,  in  effect,  a  world  in  itself,  busily 
engaged  in  the  work  and  play  and  government  of  the  world, 
and  so  well  do  such  activities  and  a  highly  flexible  curriculum 
meet  the  needs  of  all  classes  that  the  need  for  most  of  the 
promotional  machinery  and  special-type  classes  and  schools 
is  here  eliminated. 


S18  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

The  Gary  plan  calls  for  good  organizations,  along  lines 
which  school  men  are  not  commonly  either  familiar  with 
or  capable  of;  large  executive  capacity,  imagination,  and 
clear  insight  into  community  needs;  teachers  of  a  differ- 
ent type,  chiefly  in  attitude  and  adaptability;  a  different 
type  of  school  plant;  and  courses  of  instruction  far  removed 
from  the  knowledge  conception  of  education.  Whether  or 
not  the  Gary  idea  will,  in  time,  become  the  common  type 
one  cannot  now  say,  but  the  plan  is  one  with  which  all 
school  men  should  become  familiar,  and  one  which  could  be 
advantageously  experimented  with  in  many  of  our  cities. 
The  plan  as  carried  out  at  Gary  certainly  represents  a  type 
of  social  service  of  which  few  school  systems  as  at  present 
organized  are  capable. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Why  does  a  system  of  term  promotions,  based  on  written  examina- 
tions, always  tend  to  increase  the  retardation  in  the  schools? 

2.  Which  form  of  written  examination  will  tend  to  increase  the  retarda- 
tion most,  one  where  the  questions  are  made  out  in  each  school,  or 
one  where  the  questions  are  uniform  for  the  entire  city?  Why? 

3.  Schoolmasters  frequently  argue  that  schools  which  have  a  very  low 
percentage  of  retardation  do  not  maintain  standards  in  making  pro- 
motions.  What  is  the  value  of  this  argument? 

4.  Do  you  agree  with  the  argument  about  the  importance  of  caring  for 
the  gifted  child?   If  not,  why  not? 

5.  Do  you  see  any  relation  between  size  of  class  and  retardation? 

6.  Why  has  mass  education  been  a  natural  development  of  our  political 
theory  as  to  human  equality? 

7.  How  large  buildings  or  school  system  would  one  need  to  institute  the 
quarterly  promotion  plan? 

8.  Could  a  half-yearly  promotion  plan  be  introduced  in  any  city? 

9.  What  are  the  chief  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  Baltimore 
plan?  Is  it  inapplicable  in  most  school  systems? 

10.  Why  is  the  Pueblo  plan  a  difficult  one  to  carry  out?    Is  it  sound 
educationally? 

11.  What  are  the  merits  and  defects  of  the  Cambridge  plan? 

12.  What  are  the  merits  and  defects  of  the  differentiated-course  plan? 

13.  What  would  a  promotional  rate  of  ninety  per  cent  mean  in  a  large 
city  school  system,  having  ten  thousand  elementary-school  pupils? 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       319 

14.  Would  a  measure  of  the  effectiveness  of  a  school  be  the  extent  to 
which  it  eliminates  non-promotion?  If  not,  under  what  conditions 
would  it  be  a  good  measure? 

15.  Are  any  of  the  special-type  schools  enumerated  in  section  3  of  this 
chapter,  in  your  judgment,  not  within  the  proper  function  of  public 
education?  Would  you  add  any  others  to  the  Ust;  if  so,  what  ones, 
and  why? 

16.  What  is  meant  by  departmental  instruction?  In  what  grades  do  you 
think  such  instruction  would  prove  most  advantageous?  State  the 
arguments  for  and  against  the  departmental  organization  for  the 
upper  grammar-school  grades. 

17.  Is  the  intermediate-school  organization  better  than  the  departmental 
plan?  If  so,  what  is  its  particiilar  poini  of  advantage? 

18.  What  is  the  advantage  of  promotion  by  subjects,  after  the  sixth  grade? 

19.  What  is  your  judgment,  after  reading  Snedden's  address  and  Bagley's 
reply,  on  the  distinctions  between  liberal  and  vocational  education? 

20.  What  is  your  judgment,  after  reading  Bobbit,  Bourne,  Burxis,  and 
Snedden,  on  the  Gary  plan? 

21.  How  far  does  the  form  of  organization  of  instruction  described  by 
Brown  approach  the  Pueblo  plan?  The  Gary  plan? 

22.  Do  all  improvements  in  the  educational  system  mean  the  expenditure 
of  more  money  for  education? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Get  age-  and  grade-distxibution  sheets  for  a  number  of  school  sys- 
tems, and  see  what  is  the  percentage  of  acceleration  and  retardation 
in  each. 

2.  Compare  the  age-  and  grade-distribution  in  such  cities  with  the  com- 
pulsory age  limits,  and  see  if  the  attendance  curves  fall  off  markedly 
after  the  close  of  the  compulsory  period. 

3.  Take  two  school  systems,  one  of  which  provides  a  traditional  curric- 
ulum, and  the  other  of  which  has  a  rich  and  varied  curriculum,  and 
make  a  chart  comparing  the  two,  for  a  number  of  years,  in  percent- 
ages of  pupils  in  school  after  the  close  of  the  compulsory  school  period. 

4.  Draw  up  the  promotional  scheme  that,  in  your  judgment,  is  best 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  a  city  of  10,000  inhabitants.  What  types  of 
special  schools  would  you  think  desirable  as  an  adjunct  to  such  a 
city  system? 

5.  Assume  that  you  desire  to  urge  upon  your  board  the  advisability  of 
introducing,  as  a  part  of  the  city  school  system,  any  one  of  the 
twenty-two  types  of  special  school  enumerated  under  section  3. 
Draw  up  a  report  and  recommendation  to  them  for  such  a  school, 
stating  need  for,  giving  the  educational  argument  for  such,  and  esti- 
mating tlie  probable  cost. 

6.  Suppose  that  the  school  system  does  not  include  kindergartens,  ap 


320  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

that  you  desire  their  introduction.  Draw  up  a  report  for  your  board 
giving  the  reasons  for  your  recommendation,  plans  for  their  intro- 
duction, and  estimates  of  probable  costs. 

7.  Draw  up  a  report,  in  a  similar  manner,  favoring  a  reorganization  of 
the  school  system  to  provide  for  intermediate  schools,  with  differ- 
entiated courses. 

8.  Calculate  the  saving  for  a  school  system  of  four  sixteen-room  grade 
buildings,  employing  four  special  supervisors  and  ten  special  teachers, 
by  reorganizing  it  according  to  the  plan  described  by  Brown,  in  the 
third  part  of  his  paper,  by  means  of  which  departmental  instruction 
and  all-teachers-specialists  are  substituted  for  the  typical  grade 
organization. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

.1.  Retardation  and  promotion. 

Ayres,  L.  P.  Laggards  in  the  School.  236  pp.  Charities  Publ.  Committee, 
New  York,  1909. 

A  valuable  study  of  retardation  and  elimination  of  pupils. 

Bachman,  F.  P.  Problems  in  Elementary  School  Administration.  274  pp. 
World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

An  important  study  of  intermediate  schools,  their  educational  value  and  economic 
efficiency;  together  with  a  very  full  discussion  of  the  question  of  promotion  and 
non-promotion  of  pupils.  An  authoritative  work  on  the  progress  and  classification  of 
pupils. 

Blan,  L.  B.  A  Special  Study  of  the  Incidence  of  Retardation.  Ill  pp. 
Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  40.   New  York,  1911. 

A  critical  review  of  previous  studies,  and  a  detailed  study  of  four  New  Jersey 
cities  and  one  district  in  New  York  City. 

Bobbitt,  J.  F.  "The  Elimination  of  Waste  in  Education";  in  Elemen- 
tary-School Teacher,  vol.  12,  pp.  259-71.    (February,  1912.) 

Describes  the  Gary,  Indiana,  school  system,  where  retardation  has  been  reduced 
to  a  minimum  by  reason  of  the  new  type  of  instruction  provided. 

Dynes,  J.  J.  "Relation  of  Retardation  to  Elimination  of  Students  from 
the  High  School";  in  School  Review,  vol.  22,  pp.  396-406.  (June,  1914.) 
A  good  study  of  high-school  eliminations,  by  classes  and  by  subjects. 
Elson,  W.  H.   "Waste  and  Efficiency  in  School  Studies";  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1912,  pp.  335-43. 

A  good  article  on  retardation,  promotion,  and  the  elimination  of  waste,  with  par- 
ticular reference  to  the  Cleveland  schools. 

Ewing,  E.  F.  "Retardation  and  Elimination  in  Public  Schools";  in 
Educational  Review,  vol.  46,  pp.  252-72.    (October,  1913.) 

A  comparative  study  of  two  cities,  and  a  good  discussion  of  the  problems  involved. 
Faulkner,  R.  P.   "Retardation;  its  Significance  and  Requirements";  in 
Educazional  Review,  vol.  33,  pp.  122-31.    (September,  1909.) 

A  good  short  article  on  the  general  prevalence  of  retardation  in  the  schools  of  the 
United  States. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       321 

Greenwood,  J.  M.  " Miring  in  the  Grades  and  the  Promotion  of  Pupils"; 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  36,  pp.  139-61.  (September,  1908.) 
A  series  of  tables  and  statistical  data  showing  conditions  in  a  number  of  cities. 
Hartwell,  C.  H.  "Grading  and  Promotion  of  Pupils";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  40,  pp.  375-86.  (November,  1910.)  Also  in  Proceedings  of 
National  Education  Association,  1910,  pp.  294-300;  discussion,  pp. 
300-06. 

A  very  good  discussion  of  the  whole  subject.  Gives  a  digest  of  the  New  York  City 
Teachers'  Association's  investigation  of  plans  in  use. 

Holmes,  W.  H.    School  Organization  and  the  Individual  Child.    197  + 
211  pp.   The  Davis  Press,  Worcester,  1912. 

Part  I  describes  plans  for  handling  normal  children,  and  Part  II,  sub-normal  chil- 
dren. An  important  volume. 

Holmes,  W.  H.    "Plans  of  Classification  in  the  Public  Schools";  in 
Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  18,  pp.  475-522.    (December,  1911.) 
Describes  and  compares  plans  in  use  in  the  United  States  and  in  Germany. 
Keyes,  C.  H.   Progress  through  the  Grades  of  City  Schools.  79  pp.   Trs. 
Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  42,  New  York,  1911. 
A  study  of  acceleration  and  arrest. 
Phillips,  D.  E.   "The  Child  vs.  Promotion-Machinery";  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1912,  pp.  349-55. 
An  argument  on  the  child  side  of  the  question. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.    Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  School  System.    324 
pp.     1915. 

Chapter  IX,  on  the  progress  of  children  through  the  schools,  deals  with  both  re- 
tardation and  the  means  employed  to  reduce  the  same. 

Search,  P.  W.  "Individual  Teaching;  the  Pueblo  Plan";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  7,  pp.  154-70.    (February,  1894.) 
Describes  the  plan  as  it  was  followed  at  Pueblo,  Colorado. 
Sheldon,  W.  D.   "A  Neglected  Cause  of  Retardation";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  40,  pp.  121-31.   (September,  1910.) 

Claims  that  large  primary^school  classes  are  responsible  for  many  a  retarded  child. 
Spaulding,  F.  E.   "The  Unassigned  Teacher  in  the  Schools";  in  School 
Review,  vol.  15,  pp.  201-16.   (March,  1907.) 

Describes  the  work  of  such  a  teacher  in  the  schools  of  Newton,  Mass. 
Strayer,  G.  D.,  and  Thorndike,  E.  L.  Educational  Administration; 
Quantitative  Studies.  391  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1913. 

Part  I  reproduces  a  number  of  valuable  studies  of  elimination,  retardation,  and 
acceleration  in  school  systems,  with  many  statistical  tables. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.    The  Elimination  of  Pupils  from  School.  60  pp.   Bul- 
letin no.  4,  1907,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 

A  statistical  study  of  elimination  in  American  cities,  with  many  diagrams.  An  im- 
portant study. 
U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education.    "  Classification  and  Promotion  of 
Pupils";  in  Annual  Report,  1898-99,  i,  pp.  302-56. 
A  series  of  good  extracts  from  official  reports,  describing  the  development  of  the 


sn  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

short-interval  system  in  St.  Louis  (1869-74);  the  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey  plan:  tho 
Seattle  plan:  the  North  Denver  plan:  and  the  old  Cambridge  plan. 

Van  Denburg,  J.  K.  Causes  of  the  Elimination  of  Students  in  Public 
Secondary  Schools  in  New  York  City.  205  pp.  Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to 
Educ,  no.  47,  New  York,  1911. 

A  statistical  study  of  elimination  in  one  group  of  schools. 

Van  Sickle,  J.  H.,  and  Shearer,  W.  J.  "Grading  and  Promotion  with 
Reference  to  the  Individual  Needs  of  Pupils";  in  Proceedings  of  Na- 
tional Education  Association,  1898,  pp.  434-48. 

Two  papers,  the  first  describing  the  North  Denver  plan,  and  the  other  the  Eliza- 
beth plan. 

Van  Sickle,  J.  H.,  Witmer,  L.,  and  Ayres,  L.  P.  Provisions  for  Exceptional 
Children  in  Public  Schools.  92  pp.  Bulletin  no.  4,  1911,  U.S.  Bureau 
of  Education. 

A  very  valuable  document,  classifying  exceptional  children  and  describing  work 
done  for  them  in  thirty-nine  American  cities. 

S.  Differentiations  and  reorganizations. 

Bonser,  Fr.  E.   "  Democratizing  Secondary  Education  by  the  Six-Three- 
Three  Plan";  in  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  vol. 
I,  pp.  567-76  (November,  1915). 
A  good  descriptive  article. 
Brown,  S.  W.  "  Some  Experiments  in  Elementary-School  Organization"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  458-63. 

A  valuable  paper,  discussing  requirements  and  flexibility  in  the  elementary-school 
curriculum:  promotion  by  subjects  instead  of  by  grades;  and  the  advantages  of  de- 
partmental instruction  throughout  the  elementary  school. 

Bourne,  Randolph  S.  The  Gary  Schools.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston, 
1916.    200pp.;  illustrated. 

A  well-rounded  description  of  the  work  and  of  the  principles  of  organization, 
management,  and  finance  which  have  been  worked  out  by  Superintendent  Wirt  in 
Gary  and  in  other  places  under  his  direction. 

Bums,  W.  p.  The  Public  School  System  of  Gary,  Indiana.  Bulletin  no. 
18,  1914,  U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  49  pp.;  illustrated. 

A  good  and  an  easily  available  description  of  the  work  at  Gary,  giving  programs, 
time  schedules,  building  plans,  and  illustrations  of  the  work  done. 

Christensen,  D.  H.  "Some  Adjustments  and  Changes  in  the  Course  of 
Study  and  School  Organization  suggested  by  the  Needs  and  the 
Capacities  of  the  Children  that  vary  from  the  Standards  set  for 
Average  Pupils";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association, 
1912,  pp.  335-68. 

A  good  description  of  the  work  done  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  in  introducinjf 
the  intermediate  school  and  the  ungraded  class,  and  instruction  for  backward  chil- 
dren. 

Cole,  p.  R.    Industrial  Education  in  the  Elementary  School.    64  pp. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1914.    Riverside  Educational  Mono- 
graph Series. 
The  problem,  and  the  necessary  reconstructions  in  the  curriculum  and  in  method. 


ADJUSTMENTS  AND  DIFFERENTIATIONS       323 

Draper,  A.  S.  "The  Adaptation  of  Schools  to  Industry  and  Efficiency  "; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1908,  pp.  65-78. 

A  good  article  on  elementary-school  waste,  and  the  lack  of  balance  and  adapta- 
tion to  national  needs  of  elementary-school  programs  of  study. 

Francis,  J.  H.  "A  Reorganization  of  Our  School  System";  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  368-76. 

A  good  brief  description  of  the  divisions  into  which  the  Los  Angeles  schools  have 
been  reorganized,  and  the  scope  and  purposes  of  each. 

Heeter,  S.  L.    "Differentiation  in  the  Courses  of  Study  for  Children 

between  Twelve  and  Sixteen  Years  of  Age";  in  Proceedings  of  National 

Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  292-96. 

Describes  the  new  types  of  schools  introduced  at  Pittsburg, —  ungraded  room, 

schools  for  weak-minded,  schools  for  foreign  children,  open-air  schools,  elementary 

industrial  schools,  and  the  short-course  high  school. 
Kilpatrick,  V.  E.  Departmental  Teaching  in  Elementary  Schools.  130  pp> 

Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1908. 

A  good  presentation  of  the  arguments  for  and  against,  with  plans. 
Leavitt,  F.  M.  Examples  of  Industrial  Education.  330  pp.  Ginn  &  Co., 

Boston,  1912. 
A  valuable  book,  giving  many  examples  of  industrial  work  in  different  parts  of  the 

United  States. 
Maxwell,  W.  H.   A  Quarter  Century  of  Public  School  Development.  417 

pp.  American  Book  Co.,  New  York,  1912. 

A  series  of  extracts,  from  Superintendent  Maxwell's  published  reports,  of  which 
the  following  relate  to  the  subject-matter  of  this  chapter:  — 

18.  Schools  for  defective  children,  pp.  203-13. 

19.  Truant  schools,  pp.  214-16, 

20.  Summer  schoob  and  playgrounds,  pp.  217-22. 

21.  Continuation  vs.  evening  schools,  pp.  223-25. 

23.  Departmental  teaching  in  elementary  schools,  pp.  229-37. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System. 
(1913.)  441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York, 
1915. 

Part  n,  "Instructional  Needs,"  outlines  a  plan  for  the  educational  reorganization 
of  the  city. 

Reeves,  Edith.    Care  and  Education  of  Crippled  Children  in  the  United 
States.    252  pp.   Survey  Associates,  Inc.,  New  York,  1914. 
A  carefully  prepared  and  well-illustrated  volume  on  the  subject. 

Snedden,  D.  Problems  of  Educational  Readjustment.  259  pp.  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1914. 

A  series  of  ten  essays  relating  to  instruction,  and  presenting  the  spirit  of  the  modern 
demands  on  the  school.  The  first,  on  "New  Education  and  Educational  Readjust- 
ment," and  the  sixth,  on  "Differentiated  Programs  of  Study  for  Older  Children  ii 
Elementary  Schools,"  bear  in  particular  on  the  subject-matter  of  this  chapter. 

Snedden,  D.  "Fundamental  Distinctions  between  Liberal  and  Voca- 
tional Education";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association, 
1914,  pp.  150-61.  Opposite  point  of  view  presented  by  W.  C.  Bagley, 
pp.  161-70. 

A  good  presentation  of  the  vocational-education  question.  Snedden  lays  dow» 
thirteen  important  theses  on  the  question  of  vocational  education. 


824  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Snedden,  D.  "The  Gary  System;  Its  Pros  and  Cons  for  Other 
Cities  "  ;  in  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  vol.  i,  pp. 
362-74.  (June,  1915.)  Also  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  As- 
sociation, 1915. 

Springfield,  111.  Survey  of  the  Public  Schools.  152  pp.  Russell  Sage 
Foundation,  New  York,  1914. 

Chapter   XIII,   on   "Vocational   Education,"   and   Chapter   XIV,   on   "Educa- 
tional Extension,"  are  good  on  the  need  of  an  extension  of  the  school's  work. 

Thompson,  F.  W.   "  Equalizing  Educational  Opportunity  ";  in  Educa- 
tional Administration  and  SupervisioUt  vol.  i,  pp.  453-64.    (Septem- 
ber, 1915.) 
A  very  good  general  article  on  needed  readjustments  in  work  and  expenditures  to 
make  our  school  systems  more  democratic. 

Trowbridge,  Ada  W.  The  Home  School.  98  pp.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co., 
Boston,  1913. 

A  very  interesting  description  of  a  school  for  training  in  home  arts,  established  in 
connection  with  the  public  schools  of  Providence,  R.I. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

EFFICIENCY  EXPERTS:  TESTING  RESULTS 

A  new  movement.  Wholly  within  the  past  decade  one 
of  the  most  significant  movements  in  all  of  our  educational 
history  has  arisen.  Almost  everything  which  has  been  con- 
sidered in  the  two  preceding  chapters  is  dependent  on  the 
further  development  of  this  movement.  The  movement  is 
as  yet  only  in  its  infancy,  but  so  important  is  it  in  terms  of 
the  future  of  administrative  service  that  it  bids  fair  to 
change,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  whole  character  of  school 
administration.  The  numerous  surveys  of  city  school  sys- 
tems which  have  been  made  within  the  past  five  years,  the 
frequent  discussions  of  the  question  of  standards  in  educa- 
tional meetings,  and  the  labors  of  many  workers  in  attempt- 
ing to  evolve  tentative  standards  for  measurement  and 
units  of  accomplishment,  are  all  manifestations  of  this  new 
movement.  The  movement  indicates  the  growth  not  only 
of  a  professional  consciousness  as  to  the  need  of  some 
quantitative  units  of  measurement,  but  also,  to  a  limited 
extent,  of  a  public  demand  for  a  more  intelligent  accounting 
by  school  oflScers  for  the  money  expended  for  public  educa- 
tion.^ 

Meaning  of  the  movement.  The  significance  of  this  new 
movement  is  large,  for  it  means  nothing  less  than  the 

1  "New  York  City  spent  last  year  nearly  $35,000,000  for  education,  and 
hardly  a  dollar  of  it  was  spent  for  measuring  results.  Are  educators  sup- 
posed to  be  such  experts  that  their  methods  cannot  be  improved?  Lately 
we  have  had  a  striking  demonstration  of  what  experimental  science  can  do 
by  reducing  the  motions  in  laying  brick  and  the  fatigue  in  handling  pig 
iron.  It  can  hardly  be  pretended  that  scientific  efficiency  is  of  less  conse- 
quence in  the  schools."   (Editorial  in  the  Springfield  Republican,  1912.) 


826  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

ultimate  changing  of  school  administration  from  guesswork 
to  scientific  accuracy;  the  elimination  of  favoritism  and 
politics  completely  from  the  work;  the  ending  forever  of  the 
day  when  a  book-publishing  company  or  a  personal  or 
political  enemy  of  the  superintendent  can  secure  his  re- 
moval, without  regard  to  the  efficiency  of  the  school  system 
he  has  built  up;  the  substitution  of  professional  experts  for 
the  old  and  successful  practitioners;  and  the  changing  of 
school  supervision  from  a  temporary  or  a  political  job,  for 
which  little  or  no  technical  preparation  need  be  made,  to 
that  of  a  highly  skilled  piece  of  professional  social  engi- 
neering.^ 

The  movement  is  of  such  large  potential  importance  that 
any  young  man  of  to-day  who  desires  to  prepare  for  school 
administration  in  the  future  should  by  all  means  thoroughly 
familiarize  himself  with  the  aims  and  methods  of  this  new 
phase  of  administrative  service.^ 

The  scientific  purpose.  The  scientific  purpose  of  the 
movement  has  been  to  create  some  standards  of  measure- 
ment and  units  of  accomplishment  which  may  be  applied  to 

^  School  administration,  in  respect  to  training  and  professional  prepa- 
ration, has  been  until  quite  recently  about  the  most  backward  of  all  the 
learned  professions,  being  in  much  the  same  position  the  army  was  be- 
fore the  establishment  of  West  Point,  the  navy  before  Annapolis,  medicine 
and  surgery  before  the  days  of  medical  schools,  all  constructional  and  engi- 
neering undertakings  before  the  establishment  of  engineering  schools,  and 
when  an  attorney-at-law  was  a  man  of  some  eloquence  who  had  served  a 
certain  apprenticeship  in  a  law  office  and  in  the  justice's  court.  Our 
successful  city  superintendents  have  been  to  a  very  large  extent  the  Israel 
Putnams  and  the  Paul  Joneses  of  the  work.  In  the  past,  when  each  was 
blazing  his  own  trail,  this  answered  very  well;  in  the  future,  when  we  shall 
have  accumulated  a  common  body  of  scientific  knowledge  relating  to  the 
work,  it  will  not  do  at  all. 

2  In  another  book  in  this  series,  dealing  with  the  organization  and  ad- 
ministration of  a  school,  it  is  the  intention  to  go  into  some  detail  in  the 
explanation  of  the  type  of  scientific  preparation  which  should  be  made, 
and  the  nature  of  the  service  which  may  be  rendered;  here  we  shall  only 
sketch  the  work  in  large  outline,  and  point  out  its  probable  future  signifi- 
cance. 


TESTING  RESULTS  327 

school  systems,  to  individual  schools  or  classes,  or  to  pupils, 
to  determine  the  efficiency  of  the  work  being  done,  and  of 
substituting  these  for  that  personal  opinion  which  has,  in 
the  past,  constituted  almost  the  only  standard  of  measure- 
ment of  educational  procedure.  The  efficiency  or  ineffi- 
ciency of  teachers,  principals,  and  superintendent,  and  of 
courses  of  instruction,  have  for  long  been  measured  by  such 
personal  standards,  in  which  the  opinions  of  laymen  have 
often  been  of  quite  as  much  value  as  the  opinions  of  school 
men.  The  importance  of  the  work  done  in  the  schools  and 
the  value  of  their  output  have  also  been  subject  to  the  same 
standards  of  personal  opinion.  The  school,  too,  and  not  the 
world  outside,  has  framed  the  specifications  for  the  training 
of  its  graduates,  and  these  have  been  based  wholly  on  per- 
sonal opinions  as  to  needs  held  by  schoolmasters.  When 
laymen  on  school  boards  have  broken  in,  and  have  dismissed 
teachers  and  superintendents  or  altered  courses  of  study,  the 
intrusion  has  naturally  been  resented  without  any  one  being 
able  really  to  prove  that  such  an  intrusion  was  unjustified. 

In  other  words,  the  school,  the  most  important  under- 
taking of  any  community,  has  stood  isolated  in  the  com- 
munity, unable  to  prove  that  what  it  was  doing  was  the 
best  possible,  and  unable  to  speak  to  the  community  of  its 
accomplishments  in  a  language  which  the  community  could 
easily  understand.  Instead,  we  have  asked  the  community 
to  accept  on  faith  our  statements  that  what  we  are  doing 
is  of  very  great  importance,  and  that  we  are  doing  it  very 
well.  The  result  has  been  an  isolation  of  the  school  which 
has  defeated  some  of  its  best  efforts. 

The  actuating  purpose  of  this  new  movement  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  standards  of  measurement  and  units  of  accom- 
plishment has  been  that  of  removing  the  school  from  its 
isolation  in  the  community;  of  enabling  it  to  prove  the  im- 
portance of  what  it  is  doing  by  making  it  possible  for  it  to 


828  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

speak  a  language  which  the  community  can  understand;  and 
of  making  possible  the  measurement  of  its  efficiency,  or  the 
efficiency  of  individuals  in  the  school  system,  in  terms  of 
established  units  and  standards.  In  other  words,  the  pur- 
pose has  been  to  change  school  supervision  from  the  ranks 
of  an  occupation  to  that  of  a  profession,  —  from  a  job  depend- 
ent upon  political  and  personal  favors  to  a  scientific  service 
capable  of  self-defense  in  terms  of  accepted  standards  and 
units  of  accomplishment.  The  movement  for  the  creation 
of  scientific  standards  of  measurement  and  units  of  accom- 
plishment is  a  movement  of  vast  importance  to  the  future  of 
the  work  of  school  administration,  and  one  which  bids  fair 
to  change  its  entire  character.  In  another  decade  or  two 
we  shall  probably  need  to  rewrite  our  books  on  school  ad- 
ministration in  terms  of  this  new  scientific  development. 

Measurement  by  comparison.  Up  to  very  recently  the 
only  measure  of  accomplishment  we  have  had,  in  advance 
of  measurement  by  personal  opinion,  has  been  that  of 
measurement  by  comparison.  To  learn  something  about 
costs  for  education  we  have  compared  costs  for  different 
items  in  one  school  system  with  similar  costs  in  cities  of 
approximately  the  same  size;  courses  of  instruction  have 
been  evaluated  in  terms  of  work  offered  and  time  devoted 
to  the  different  studies  in  other  cities;  enrollment,  attend- 
ance, and  promotional  averages  have  been  compared  with 
enrollment,  attendance,  and  promotional  averages  else- 
where; and  the  provision  of  special  supervision  or  the 
demands  made  on  teachers  have  been  measured  in  terms 
of  what  other  similar  cities  provide  or  require. 

Such  a  plan  has  many  merits,  as  it  serves  to  place  a  city 
among  other  cities  of  its  class,  and  the  position  of  a  city 
may  then  be  graphically  shown. ^     It  represents  a  marked 

1  The  Report  of  the  Commission  appointed  to  study  the  System  of  Educa- 
tion in  the  Public  Schools  of  Baltimore  (1911),  which  was  the  first  of  a  large 


TESTING  RESULTS  S29 

advance  over  the  method  of  judgment  by  personal  opinion, 
and  enables  a  superintendent  or  a  school  system  to  de- 
fend its  requests  or  its  practices  in  the  light  of  conditions 
found  or  expenditures  made  in  other  cities  of  its  class. 
Whether  a  city  is  above  or  below  the  average  for  other 
cities  of  its  class  in  any  item,  or  whether  its  schools  or  its 
practices  are  particularly  different,  is  easily  ascertained  and 
easily  shov/n. 

Though  not  very  exact,  it  is  nevertheless  a  method  which 
will  always  be  useful,  for  certain  rough  comparisons,  while 
in  the  derivation  of  more  accurate  standards  it  will  be 
necessary  to  make  much  use  of  this  comparative  method. 
The  difficulty  with  the  method  is  that  it  compares  good, 
bad,  and  indifferent,  and  tends  to  place  the  average  or 
median  standard  so  derived  in  that  part  of  the  scale  which 
represents  mediocrity,  rather  than  placing  it  in  that  part 
which  represents  progress. 

Units  or  standards  for  measurement.  Within  the  past 
decade  a  number  of  scientific  workers  have  attempted  the 
establishment  of  a  series  of  standards  of  measurement  and 
units  of  accomplishment,  with  a  view  to  a  better  standard- 
ization of  educational  procedure  and  the  creation  of  com- 
parable units  of  accomplishment.  Enough  has  already  been 

number  of  recent  school  surveys,  is  a  good  example  of  this  type  of  study. 
The  method  of  comparison  was  largely  used  in  this  report,  Baltimore  being 
compared,  in  a  large  number  of  items,  with  twelve  other  cities  which  in 
1910  had  a  total  population  of  300,000  or  more. 

The  excellent  Study  of  Expenses  of  City  Schools  Systems,  by  Updegraff 
(Bulletin  no.  5,  1912,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education),  is  a  study  made  by  this 
same  method  of  comparison,  with  an  explanation  of  central  tendencies  in 
expenditures. 

The  very  valuable  studies  by  Holmes  and  Jessup,  in  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Economy  of  Time  (H.  B.  Wilson,  Chairman),  are  two  other 
examples  of  the  use  of  the  comparative  method. 

Still  another  example  of  this  method  is  the  Report  on  the  Organization^ 
Scope,  and  Finances  of  the  City  of  Oakland,  California^  by  Cubberley,  48  pp. 
Board  of  Education  Bulletin  no.  8,  1915. 


330  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

done  to  warrant  the  belief  that,  in  the  near  future,  we  shall 
possess  numerous  scientifically  derived  scales  of  measure- 
ment which  may  be  applied  to  a  system  of  schools,  to  dif- 
ferent systems,  or  to  parts  of  a  system,  and  by  means  of 
which  we  may  measure  the  quality  of  the  work  being  done.^ 
This  does  not  mean  that  all  children  are  to  be  made  alike, 
or  that  a  uniform  procedure  is  to  be  followed,  but  rather 
that  all  practices  and  methods  are  to  be  tested,  and  those 
which  do  not  give  good  results  are  to  be  discarded.  It  means 
to  substitute  demonstrable  proof  as  to  the  validity  of  a 
method  or  a  procedure  for  the  present  personal  opinion  of 
teachers  and  school  authorities. 

The  work  of  Courtis^  and  Stone^  in  measuring  arithmeti- 
cal ability;  of  Ayres,^  Freeman,^  and  Thorndike^  in  devising 
scales  for  measuring  the  quality  of  handwriting;  of  Thorn- 
dike^  in  evolving  a  drawing  scale;  of  Hillegas,^  the  Harvard- 

^  Chapter  iv  of  the  Butte  School  Survey,  and  chapter  rx  of  the  Salt  Lake 
City  Survey,  both  of  which  deal  with  the  accomphshments  of  pupils,  re- 
present attempts  to  measure  school  systems  in  terms  of  these  units,  and 
standards.  In  each  case  the  achievements  of  pupils  in  arithmetic,  spelling, 
writing,  and  composition  were  measured  and  compared  with  results  ob- 
tained elsewhere,  and  the  results  were  set  forth  in  a  series  of  tables  and 
graphs. 

2  Courtis,  S.  A.  Manual  of  Instructions  for  giving  and  scoring  the  Courtis 
Standard  Tests.   127  pp.   Detroit,  1914. 

'  Stone,  C.  W.  Arithmetical  Abilities  and  Some  Factors  determining 
them.   101  pp.   1908.  Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  19. 

*  Ayres,  L.  P.  Scale  for  measuring  the  Handvyriting  in  Children.  Russell 
Sage  Foundation,  New  York,  Publication  E  113. 

Ayers,  L.  P.  Scale  for  measuring  Handwriting  of  Adults.  Russell  Sage 
Foundation,  New  York,  Publication  E  138. 

^  Freeman,  F.  N.  The  Teaching  of  Handwriting.  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  Boston,  1914.     156  pp.,  and  scales. 

^  Thomdike,  E.  L.  "Handwriting";  in  Teachers  College  Record,  vol.  xi. 
(March,  1910.) 

'  Thomdike,  E.  L.  "The  Measurement  of  Achievement  in  Drawing"; 
in  Teachers  College  Record,  vol.  xiv.    (November,  1913.) 

8  Hillegas,  M.  B.  "Standard  for  measuring  the  Quality  of  English  Com- 
position by  Young  People";  in  Teachers  College  Record,  vol.  xiii.  (Sep- 
tember, 1912.) 


TESTING  RESULTS  831 

Newton^  group,  and  others  in  evolving  scales  for  measuring 
English  composition;  of  Ayres^  and  Buckingham^  in  pre- 
paring standard  spelling  lists;  of  Jones/ Courtis, ^  Kelly, ^ 
and  Thorndike^  in  evolving  vocabulary  and  reading  stan- 
dards; the  Binet-Simon  tests,  as  revised  by  Terman,^  for  de- 
termining mental  capacity;  the  work  of  Elliott^  and  Boyce^° 
in  evolving  scales  for  measuring  teaching  efficiency;  the  work 
of  ElHott,ii  Hutchinson,i2  Strayer,!^  and  Updegraff^^  in 
studying  city  school  expenses;   and  the  introduction  of 

^  BalIou,F.W.  "Scales  for  the  Measurement  of  Composition";  Harvard- 
Newton  Bulletin,  no.  2.  Harvard  University  Press,  Cambridge,  Sep- 
tember, 1914. 

2  Ayres,  L.  P.  A  Measuring  Scale  for  Ability  in  Spelling.  58  pp.  Rus- 
sell Sage  Foundation,  New  York,  1915. 

'  Buckingham,  B.  R.  Spelling  Ability;  Its  Measurement  and  Distribu- 
tion. 116  pp.  1913.  Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  59. 

*  Jones,  R.  G.  Standard  Vocabularies;  in  Fourteenth  Y ear-Book  of  the 
National  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education,  part  i,  pp.  37-43. 

^  Courtis,  S.  A.  Standards  in  Rates  of  Reading;  Ibid.,  pp.  44-58.  Also 
Standard  Tests  in  Reading,  Writing,  and  Composition. 

8  Kelly,  F.  J.  Silent  Reading  Tests.  Bureau  of  Educational  Measure- 
ments, Kansas  State  Normal  School,  1915. 

'  Thomdike,  E.  L.  "Reading  Scale";  in  Teachers  College  Record,  vol.  xv, 
no.  4.   (September,  1914.) 

8  Terman,  L.  M.  The  Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet-Simon  Scale  for 
Measuring  Intelligence.  (1916.)    A  Scientific  Monograph. 

Terman,  L.  M.  The  Measurement  of  Intelligence.   Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  Boston,  1916.    A  practical  guide. 

*  Elliott,  E.  C.  "Provisional  Plan  for  the  Measure  of  Merits  of  Teach- 
ers"; in  Cubberiey's  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization,  Appen- 
dix F.  Macmillan  Co.,  1914 

^°  Boyce,  A.  C.  "Methods  of  Measuring  Teaching  Efficiency";  in 
Fourteenth  Year-Book  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education, 
part  II.  83  pp.  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1915. 

^^  Elliott,  E.  C.  Some  Fiscal  Aspects  of  Public  Education  in  American 
Cities.   101  pp.   1905.  Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  6. 

^2  Hutchinson,  J.  H.  School  Costs  and  School  Accounting.  Trs.  Col. 
Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  62,  148  pp.   1913. 

13  Strayer,  G.  D.  City  School  Expenditures.  103  pp.  1905.  Trs.  Col. 
Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  5. 

"  Updegraff,  H.  A  Study  of  Expenses  of  City  School  Systems.  96  pp. 
Bulletin  no.  5,  1912,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 


S32  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

cumulative  record  cards  for  pupils  and  uniform  methods  of 
accounting^  for  school  systems,  —  these  mark  merely  the 
beginning  of  the  work  of  formulating  standards  of  measure- 
ment and  perfecting  units  of  accomplishment  for  educa- 
tional service. 

Need  for  standards  as  guides.  An  important  underlying 
purpose  in  the  creation  of  all  such  standard  scales  for  meas- 
uring school  work  and  for  comparing  the  accomplishments 
of  different  groups  of  children  is  to  give  both  supervisors  and 
teachers  something  definite  at  which  to  aim  in  the  imparting 
of  instruction.  Teachers  at  present  too  often  assign  tasks 
and  hear  lessons  without  thought  of  other  quantitative 
standards  than  the  covering  of  the  course  of  study  and  the 
passage  of  examina,tion  tests,  and  supervisors  too  often 
supervise  without  any  very  clear  idea  as  to  how  best  to 
direct  effort  to  secure  maximum  educational  results.  The 
growth-process  in  a  child,  as  in  a  seed,  will  of  course  do 
much  to  unfold  what  is  latent  there,  but  all  quantitative 
standards  so  far  evolved  show  wide  variations  in  accom- 
plishment in  supposedly  somewhat  similar  groups.  Teach- 
ing without  a  measuring  stick,  and  without  definite  stand- 
ards of  accomplishment  for  different  groups,  and  trusting 
to  luck  and  to  the  growth-process  to  secure  results,  is  com- 
parable to  the  old-time  luck-and-chance  farming,  and  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  introduction  of  carefully 
formulated  and  well-tested  standards  of  measurement  and 
units  for  accomplishment  into  school  work  —  building 
standards,  janitor-service  standards,  health  standards,  men- 
tal-capacity standards,  accomplishment  standards  in  the 
trifferent  subjects,  instruction  standards,  teacher  standards, 
supervision  standards  —  would  not  do  for  education  what 

1  Department  of  Superintendence,  National  Education  Association. 
Report  of  the  Committee  on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports.  46  pp.  Bulletin 
no.  3,  1912,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 


TESTING  RESULTS  333 

has  been  done  for  agriculture  as  a  result  of  the  application 
of  scientific  knowledge  and  methods  to  farming.^ 

Importance  of  such  standards.  For  the  teacher  such 
standards  and  units  will  mean  definiteness.  Pupils  can  be 
carefully  examined,  and  classified  in  the  group  where  they 
can  work  most  advantageously.  Each  teacher  can  know 
definitely  what  is  expected  of  her,  for  each  type  of  pupil, 
and,  with  definite  tasks  laid  down,  she  can  know  at  all 
times  whether  or  not  she  is  accomplishing  the  things  ex- 
pected of  her.  The  center  of  educational  consciousness,  will 
be  shifted  for  her  from  school  machinery  and  courses  of 
instruction  to  the  child  to  be  taught. 

With  the  scales  so  far  evolved  teachers  can  be  taught  to 
test  their  own  work.  Records  will  need  to  be  kept  and 
studied.  Many  of  the  results  are  capable  of  graphic  repre- 
sentation, and  over  these  graphs  pupil  and  teacher  may 
confer.  Often  the  pupil  can  chart  his  own  record,  or  com- 
pare his  own  work,  and  see  his  own  deficiencies. 

From  an  examination  of  the  pupil-results,  building  prin- 
cipals and  supervisors  can  tell,  almost  at  a  glance,  whether 
pupils  or  rooms  are  making  proper  progress;  when  any 
group  has  made  all  desirable  progress  and  should  advance; 
whether  instruction  is  directed  to  what  are  the  weak  points 
for  the  group;  where  teachers  who  need  help  are  located, 
and  in  what  particulars  they  need  help;  in  what  rooms  the 
load  and  the  teacher  are  not  properly  adjusted;  and  what 
teachers  are  so  inefficient  or  indifferent  or  incapable  of 

^  "For  the  sake  of  argument,  suppose  all  of  the  usual  protests  against 
standard  tests  are  conceded.  Grant  that  the  tests  themselves  are  not 
scientifically  developed;  that  they  are  inaccurate;  that  judgment  in  their 
application  is  faulty;  that  the  results  are  not  what  is  claimed;  that  certain 
elements  in  good  teaching  are  immeasurable  —  granting  all  of  these  things 
and  more,  the  fact  still  remains  that  the  conclusions  reached  by  such  tests 
are  far  more  accurate  than  those  based  upon  vague  impressions  of  what 
ought  to  be."  (Don  C.  Bliss,  in  Educational  Administration  and  Super- 
vision, vol.  I,  p.  88.) 


334 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


COURTK  STANDARD  TESTS 


Fig.  30.    A  COURTIS  SCORE  CARD  IN  ARITHMETIC 

{Reproduced  by  permission  of  Mr.  S,  A .  Courtis) 

In  the  figure  above  curves  A  and  B  are  of  two  individuals  in  the  same  class.  From 
an  Indiana  school.  Note  that  A  is  practically  normal  except  in  the  last  test  (shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  curve  is  almost  a  straight  line  and  lies  almost  wholly  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  fourth  grade),  while  B  is  below  grade  in  every  test  but  one  and  is 
I  articularly  weak  on  reasoning. 

Curves  C  and  D  are  two  measirrements  of  the  same  child,  one  in  September  and  the 
other  in  June.  From  a  Michigan  school.  Note  the  correction  of  many  defects  and  the 
balance  of  the  final  scores. 

progress  that  they  should  be  dropped  from  the  service.  For 
the  purpose  of  vocational  guidance  of  pupils  such  records 
will  be  of  great  value.  The  superintendent,  too,  can  use 
the  results  to  talk  to  his  school  board  and  to  his  community 
and  can  justify  both  the  work  and  the  expense  of  his  schools. 
Efficiency  departments.  It  will  require  time  to  evolve  and 
perfect  standards  for  the  general  measurement  of  pupils 
and  the  evaluation  of  the  different  features  of  school  work, 
and  the  cooperation  of  a  number  of  individuals  will  be  re- 
quired. Chief  among  these,  after  the  principals  and  teach- 
ers, will  be  the  clinical  psychologist,  the  school  nurses  and 
physicians,  efficiency  experts  along  different  lines,  and  a 
competent  body  of  record  clerks. 


TESTING  RESULTS  335 

The  need  for  careful  individual  records  is  not  likely  to 
be  over-emphasized  with  a  professional  body  which  in  the 
past  has  kept  only  mass  records,  often  of  a  more  or  less 
meaningless  type.  A  small  staff  of  clerks  will  be  needed  to 
make  tabulations  and  record  data,  as  any  system  of  meas- 
urements and  standards  will  be  of  but  little  value  unless 
careful  and  somewhat  detailed  individual  and  group  records 
are  kept  from  year  to  year.  What  is  needed  is  a  series  of 
clear,  adequate,  incontestable,  and  accessible  records  of  the 
educational  results  from  time  to  time  achieved  in  the 
schools.  The  lesson  of  the  business  world,  from  which  we 
have  much  to  learn  in  the  matter  of  efficiency,  is  that 
detailed  records  more  than  pay  for  their  cost,  and  that  an 
accurate  knowledge  as  to  manufacturing  processes  is  im- 
possible without  such  records. 

There  is  need  now  for  the  creation  of  an  efficiency  bureau 
or  department,  either  on  a  small  or  a  large  scale,  in  con- 
nection with  every  city  school  department  of  any  size.^  In 
time  such  departments  will  probably  come  to  be  connected 
with  small  city  and  county-unit  organizations  as  well. 
Since  the  whole  efficiency  movement  is  so  recent,  and  is  as 
yet  not  very  clearly  defined,  there  naturally  are  but  few 
persons  prepared  for  such  service.  Such  departments  will 
need  to  be  started  in  the  smaller  cities  by  the  superintend- 
ent, with  the  aid  of  a  clerk,  and  in  the  larger  cities  by  finding 
some  young  man  of  good  training  and  imagination,  who  is 
interested  in  the  study  of  difficult  educational  problems, 

1  A  number  of  cities  have  already  created  such,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned:  — 

Boston,  Department  of  Educational  Investigation  and  Measurement. 

New  York,  Division  of  Reference  and  Research. 

New  Orleans,  Department  of  Education  and  Research. 

Detroit,  Department  of  Education  and  Research. 

Kansas  City,  Director  of  Research  and  Efficiency. 

Rochester,  Bureau  of  Efficiency. 

Oakland,  Department  of  Reference  and  Research. 


336  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  who  can  be  put  in  charge  and  left  to  find  his  lines  of 
greatest  service.  In  time  the  work  will  become  more  stand- 
ardized and  the  duties  more  definite.  Such  positions  are 
almost  certain  to  multiply  rapidly,  and  they  will  offer  at- 
tractive careers  to  certain  types  of  men. 

Lines  of  service;  experimental  pedagogy.  However,  some 
of  the  lines  of  service  for  such  efficiency  departments  are 
already  clearly  defined.  Part  of  these  lie  along  the  line  of 
business  organization,  part  lie  along  the  lines  of  special- 
type  educational  adjustments,  and  part  lie  in  the  field  of 
experimental  pedagogy.  These  lines  include  at  least  the  fol- 
lowing: To  study  all  phases  of  the  process  of  preparing 
pupils  for  life-careers,  and  for  efficient  community  service; 
to  study  the  needs  of  life  and  the  industries,  with  a  view  to 
restating  the  specifications  for  the  manufacture  of  the  edu- 
cational output;  to  study  means  for  increasing  the  rate  of 
production,  and  for  eliminating  the  large  present  waste  in 
manufacture;  to  test  the  product  at  different  stages  of 
manufacture,  and  to  advise  the  workers  as  to  the  results  of 
their  labors;  to  test  out  different  methods  of  procedure,  and 
gradually  to  eliminate  those  which  do  not  give  good  results; 
to  study  the  costs  of  production,  not  so  much  to  cut  down 
costs  as  to  be  able  to  show  how  the  efficiency  of  the  plant 
may  be  increased  by  a  proper  adjustment  or  even  an  in- 
crease in  expenditures;  to  supply  the  superintendent  with 
concrete  data  with  which  he  may  deal  more  intelligently 
with  his  board,  the  public,  and  the  teaching  staff;  and  to 
organize  material  for  publication  in  the  annual  printed  re- 
port of  the  school  department. 

The  clinical  psychologist  and  his  work.  Any  important 
work  in  increasing  the  effectiveness  of  schoolroom  instruc- 
tion must,  almost  of  necessity,  presuppose  the  adjustment 
of  the  load  to  the  pupil,  and  of  the  type  of  work  to  the 
pupil's  possibilities  and  probable  future  needs.   To-day  we 


TESTING  RESULTS  837 

do  this  very  roughly  or  not  at  all.  The  differentiated-course 
plan  of  instructing  and  promoting  pupils,  as  shown  in  Figure 
26,  is  a  step  in  this  direction,  as  are  all  of  the  differentiated 
types  of  schools  which  have  been  organized  by  different 
cities.  All  of  these  efforts  are  valuable,  but  they  go  only 
about  so  far. 

There  is  need,  in  all  school  systems  of  any  size,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  efficiency  expert  or  experts  so  far  described,  of  a 
clinical  psychologist,  whose  prime  function  shall  be  to  have 
charge  of  the  psychological  study  of  all  peculiar  children,  and 
to  oversee  the  instruction  of  all  children  of  the  retarded  or 
subnormal  types.  In  small  cities  this  work  will  need  to  be 
done  as  a  phase  of  the  service  of  the  efficiency  department, 
and  as  a  part  of  the  work  of  adjusting  teacher  and  pupil- 
load.  Oftentimes  the  work  comes  closely  in  touch  with  the 
work  done  by  the  health  department,  and  is  occasionally 
classed  as  a  phase  of  such  service,  though  it  more  properly 
belongs  with  that  department  whose  chief  work  lies  along 
the  line  of  experimental  pedagogy.  In  all  large  cities,  say 
of  200,000  or  250,000  and  upward,  the  cHnical  psychologist 
has  a  position  important  enough  to  warrant  the  creation  of 
a  separate  department,  coordinate  and  cooperating  with  the 
health  department  and  that  part  of  the  efficiency  department 
which  deals  with  the  problems  of  experimental  pedagogy. 

A  continuous  survey  of  production.  The  work  described 
in  this  chapter  is  new  work,  and  work  of  a  type  with  which 
schoolmasters  are  as  yet  but  little  familiar,  but  it  is  work 
of  great  future  importance,  work  which  will  professionalize 
teaching  and  supervision,  and  work  destined  to  do  much  to 
increase  the  value  of  the  public  service  rendered  by  our 
schools.  By  means  of  standards  and  units  of  the  type  now 
being  evolved  and  tested  out  it  is  even  now  possible  for  a 
superintendent  of  schools  to  make  a  survey  of  his  school 
system  which  will  be  indicative  of  its  points  of  strength  and 


338  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

weakness,  and  to  learn  from  the  results  better  methods  and 
procedures.  In  tune  it  will  be  possible  for  any  school  system 
to  maintain  a  continuous  survey  of  all  of  the  different 
phases  of  its  work,  through  tests  made  by  its  corps  of  effi- 
ciency experts,  and  to  detect  weak  points  in  its  work  almost 
as  soon  as  they  appear. 

Every  manufacturing  establishment  that  turns  out  a 
standard  product  or  series  of  products  of  any  kind  main- 
tains a  force  of  efficiency  experts  to  study  methods  of  pro- 
cedure and  to  measure  and  test  the  output  of  its  works. 
Such  men  ultimately  bring  the  manufacturing  establishment 
large  returns,  by  introducing  improvements  in  processes  and 
procedure,  and  in  training  the  workmen  to  produce  a  larger 
and  a  better  output.  Our  schools  are,  in  a  sense,  factories 
in  which  the  raw  products  (children)  are  to  be  shaped  and 
fashioned  into  products  to  meet  the  various  demands  of 
life.  The  specifications  for  manufacturing  come  from  the 
demands  of  twentieth-century  civilization,  and  it  is  the 
business  of  the  school  to  build  its  pupils  according  to 
the  specifications  laid  down.  This  demands  good  tools,  spe- 
cialized machinery,  continuous  measurement  of  production 
to  see  if  it  is  according  to  specifications,  the  elimination 
of  waste  in  manufacture,  and  a  large  variety  in  the  output. 

If  it  be  objected  that  education  is  not  working  with  iron 
and  brass  and  leather,  but  with  human  beings  where  hered- 
ity and  the  growth-process  modify  production,  then  we  can 
turn  to  agriculture  for  a  closer  analogy.  In  this  field  we  are 
now  providing  expert  county  agricultural  advisers,  at  large 
expense,  to  assist  farmers  in  improving  their  methods  and 
increasing  the  value  of  their  output.  This  is  not  being  done 
because  the  farmers  have  asked  for  such  assistance,  —  often 
they  have  laughed  at  the  idea  and  ignored  the  assistance 
offered,  —  or  because  of  any  philanthropic  idea  on  the  part 
of  the  National  Government,  chambers  of  commerce,  or 


TESTING  RESULTS  339 

produce  exchanges,  but  solely  because  such  advisers  pay 
for  themselves  in  the  increased  and  better  standardized 
output,  or  the  change  in  the  character  of  the  output  which 
results  from  the  better  methods  and  procedure  which  the 
advisers  persuade  the  farmers  to  adopt.  There  is  no  reason 
to  assume  that  the  results  arising  from  expert  advice  and 
guidance  would  be  particularly  different  in  the  field  of 
popular  education. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Would  the  development  of  standards  for  measurement  of  instruction 
enable  school  officers  to  give  a  more  intelligent  accounting  to  the 
public  for  the  money  spent  on  public  education?  How? 

2.  What  do  you  understand  by  the  statement  that  "the  school,  and  not 
the  world  outside,  has  framed  the  specifications  for  the  training  of 
its  graduates"? 

3.  Explain  your  conception  of  what  is  meant  by:  (a)  the  present  isolation 
of  the  school  in  the  community  life;  (b)  enabling  the  school  to  speak  a 
language  which  the  community  can  understand. 

4.  Illustrate  a  good  use  of  the  method  of  comparison.  Why  does  this 
method  give  results  representing  mediocrity  rather  than  progress? 

5.  The  schools  of  Butte  measured  high  in  spelling,  very  irregular  in 
penmanship,  fairly  satisfactory  to  high  in  the  four  fundamental  oper- 
ations in  arithmetic,  and  low  in  reasoning  tests  and  in  composition. 
From  this,  what  would  you  conclude  as  to  drill  work  there? 

6.  Do  supervisors  have,  in  their  supervision,  an  advantage  over  teachers 
in  their  teaching,  with  regard  to  aim?  How  and  why? 

7.  Illustrate  the  use  and  possibilities  of  standards  in  the  following 
matters:  — 

(a)  Building  standards. 

(b)  Janitor-service  standards. 

(c)  Health  standards. 

(d)  Mental-capacity  standards. 

(e)  Subject-matter  standards. 
(/)  Instruction  standards. 

(g)  Teacher  standards. 
(k)  Supervision  standards. 

8.  Illustrate  how  the  introduction  of  such  standards  will  benefit:  — 

(a)  The  classroom  teacher. 

(6)  The  school  principal. 

(c)  The  superintendent  of  schools. 

9.  Will  the  general  introduction  of  such  standards  of  accomplishment 


340  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

mean  uniformity  for  all,  or  just  the  opposite?   Why?   What  will  be 
their  effect  on  uniformity  in  courses  of  study? 

10.  How  could  a  series  of  student  records  be  made  of  service  to  a  voca- 
tional-guidance bureau? 

11.  Illustrate  the  service  of  such  a  department  in  helping  to  organize  or 
to  reconstruct:  — 

(a)  The  work  in  manual  training. 

(b)  The  household-arts  work. 

(c)  The  high-school  commercial  department. 

(d)  A  city  industrial  school.    . 

12.  Explain  what  you  understand  to  be  the  field  and  chief  services,  in  a 
city  school  system,  of  a  clinical  psychologist. 

13.  Is  the  present  movement  for  part-time  industrial  schools,  in  which 
two  sets  of  students  alternate  with  a  week  in  the  shops  and  a  week 
in  the  schools,  likely  to  contribute  toward  a  better  adaptation  of 
instruction  to  community  needs? 

14.  Were  the  transformations  in  purpose  made  in  the  Newton  school 
system,  as  shown  in  Figure  28,  along  lines  that  an  efficiency  depart- 
ment probably  would  have  suggested? 

15.  In  the  present  struggle  for  funds  in  the  annual  city  budget,  do  the 
water,  sewer,  health,  fire,  and  street  departments  have  an  advantage 
over  the  educational  department  by  reason  of  the  latter's  lack  of 
standards  for  work  and  units  of  accomplishment? 

16.  State  the  importance  of  the  movement  for  standards  for  work  and 
for  units  of  accomplishment  as  a  means  of  defense  of  the  schools 
against  unjust  criticism  and  attacks. 

17.  What  advantages  would  such  standard  records  have  over  per  cents 
in  the  transference  of  student  records  from  school  to  school,  or  school 
to  college? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Examine  a  few  courses  of  study,  of  school  systems  you  know,  to  see 
how  far  the  courses  in  (a)  domestic  science,  (b)  manual  training,  and 
(c)  commercial  work  seem  to  have  been  built  up  from  specifications 
furnished  by  life  conditions,  and  how  far  on  the  basis  of  what  school 
men  think  is  desirable  preparation. 

2.  Examine  the  vocational-guidance  work  done  in  one  or  more  cities,  to 
find  upon  what  basis  it  rests. 

3.  Examine  into  the  business  needs  of  some  city  you  know,  and  report 
as  to  what  extent  the  courses  of  instruction  in  the  schools  prepare 
pupils  to  meet  such  needs. 

4.  Carefully  read  Superintendent  Spaulding's  "Application  of  the  Prin- 
ciples of  Scientific  Management,"  and  outhne  a  study  to  obtain  data 
for  some  other  problem  in  the  study  of  schoolroom  efficiency. 

5.  Take  a  series  of  records  in  any  school  subject,  for  which  standards 
have  been  evolved,  and  score  the  results. 


TESTING  RESULTS  341 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Ayres,  L.  P.  "Economy  of  Time  through  testing  the  Course  of  Study  and 
Tim©  Allotment";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association^ 
1913,  pp.  241-46. 

A  brief  but  suggestive  article,  dealing  with  the  possibility  of  applying  standards  and 
measurements  so  as  to  secure  a  more  economical  use  of  the  time  of  pupils. 

Ayres,  L.  P.,  and  Thorndike,  E.  L.  "Measuring  Educational  Products 
and  Processes"  (2  papers);  in  School  Review,  vol.  20,  pp.  289-309; 
discussion  pp.  310-19. 

Two  Harvard  Teachers'  Association  papers,  on  the  need  for  measurement  of 
educational  products  and  processes. 

Ballon,  F.  W.   "The  Function  of  a  Department  of  Educational  Investiga- 
tion and  Measurement  in  a  City  School  System  ";  in  School  and  Society^ 
vol.  I,  pp.  181-90.  (February  6, 1915.) 
Describes  in  particular  the  work  in  Boston. 

Bliss,  D.  C.  "School  Measurements  and  School  Administration";  in  Edu- 
cational Administration  and  Supervision,  vol.  i,  pp.  79-88.  (February, 
1915.) 

Shows  the  application  of  standard  tests  to  classes,  and  points  out  their  at  least 
indicative  value. 

Bobbitt,  F.    The  Supervision  of  City  Schools.   Twelfth  Year-Booh  of  the 
National  Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education,  part  i.    96  pp. 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1913. 
An  excellent  discussion  of  the  problem  of  efficiency  measurements  and  standards. 
Butte,  Montana.   Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.    163  pp.  1914. 

Chapter  IV  on  the  achievements  of  pupils  gives  the  results  of  a  series  of  tests  given 
the  pupils  in  the  schools. 

Campbell,  M.  R.  "Methods  for  making  Surveys  of  Public  Schools";  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1914,  pp.  840-43. 

An  article  by  the  associate  psychologist  of  the  psychopathic  laboratory  of  the  mu- 
nicipal courts  of  Chicago,  on  the  types  and  varieties  of  children  who  should  be  sub-" 
jected  to  examination  and  observation. 

Courtis,  S.  A.  "Educational  Diagnosis";  in  Educational  Administration 
and  Supervision,  vol.  i,  pp.  89-116.   (February,  1915.) 

A  very  interesting  illustrated  article  on  the  use  of  arithmetical  tests  and  scorings, 
showing  how  each  teacher  may  become  an  educational  physician  for  her  pupils. 

Elson,  W.  H.  "Waste  and  Efficiency  in  School  Studies";  in  Proceedings  of 
National  Education  Association,  1912,  pp.  335-43. 

The  importance  of  studying  educational  waste,  with  a  view  to  increasing  educational 
efficiency. 

Hanus,  Paul  H.  "Improving  School  Systems  by  Scientific  Management"; 
in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  247-59. 

An  excellent  statement  of  the  principles  underlying  efficient  management  of  a 
school  system. 

Indiana  University.  Conferences  on  Educational  Measurements.  Indiana 
University  Bulletins:  1914,  170  pp.;  1915;  221  pp. 

These  contain  verbatim  reports  of  the  first  and  second  annual  conferences  on  the 
subject,  held  at  the  university,  and  contain  papers,  charts,  tables,  and  discussions. 


342  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Martin,  G.  H.    "Comparison  of  Modern  Business  Methods  with  Educar 
tional  Methods";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association, 
1905,  pp.  320-25. 
A  good  sensible  article,  written  before  standard  school  tests  had  been  devised. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.    Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.    324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  VIII,  on  the  efficiency  of  the  instruction,  gives  the  results  of  a  series  of 
tests  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools. 

Scott,  F.  N.  "Efficiency  for  Efficiency's  Sake";  in  School  Review,  vol.  23, 
pp.  34-42.   (January,  1915.) 

A  sensible  criticism  of  the  efficiency  movement.  Should  be  read  in  connection 
with  the  article  by  Bliss. 

Seashore,  C.  E.  "The  Consulting  Psychologist";  in  Popular  Science 
Monthly,  vol.  78,  pp.  283-90.   (March,  1911.) 

A  good  statement. 

Smith,  T.    "The  Development  of  Psycho-Clinics  in  the  United  States"; 
in  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  21,  pp.  143-53.   (March,  1914.) 
An  historical  sketch. 

Spaulding,  F.  E.  "Application  of  the  Principles  of  Scientific  Manage- 
ment"; in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp. 
259-79. 

A  sequel  to  Professor  Hanus's  paper,  showing  type  studies  made  in  the  Newton 
high  schools,  with  charts  and  tables.  An  excellent  illustration  of  how  to  study  the  work 
of  a  school  system. 

Strayer,  G.  D.,  Chairman.  Preliminary  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Stand- 
ards and  Tests  for  Measuring  the  Efficiency  of  Schools  or  Systems  of 
Schools.  Bulletin  no.  13,  1913.  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education,  23  pp. 
A  brief  but  excellent  statement  of  the  fundamental  principles  involved  in  testing 
school  efficiency.  Contains  an  excellent  bibliography  of  339  titles,  covering  all  phases 
of  efficiency  measurements. 

Strayer,  G.  D.,  Chairman.  Final  Report,  of  above  committee;  in  Proceedings 
of  National  Education  Association,  1915. 
The  following  papers  are  included  in  this  report:  — 

1.  "Aims  of  Public  Education."   Ben  Blewett. 

2.  "Results  of  Tests  in  Reading."   Charles  H.  Judd. 

5.  "  Measurement  of  Ability  in  Reading."   E.  L.  Thorndike. 
4.  "Efficiency  in  teaching  Grammar."   W.  H.  Maxwell. 

6.  "  Morals  in  the  Public  Schools."  J.  H.  Phillips. 

6.  "Results  of  Tests  in  Arithmetic."  A.  S.  Baylor, 

7.  "Use  of  Tests  and  Scales  of  Measurement  in  the  Administration  of  Schools." 
G.  D.  Strayer. 

Strayer,  G.  D.,  Chairman.     A  Further   Report,  of  above  committee,  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1916. 

A  series  of  papers,  describing  briefly  the  results  of  scientific  measurements  made  in 
the  school  systems  of  a  number  of  American  cities. 
Wallin,  J.  E.  W.  "The  New  Clinical  Psychology  and  the  Psycho-Clinicist"; 
in  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  vol.  ii,  pp.  121-32,  191-210. 
(March  and  April,  1911.) 
Work  and  possibilities,  with  bibliography. 


TESTING  RESULTS  S43 

Wilson,  H.  B.,  Chairman.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Department  of 
Superintendence  of  the  National  Education  Association  on  Economy 
of  Time  in  Education.  Fourteenth  Year-Book  of  the  National  Society 
for  the  Study  of  Education,  part  i.  152  pp.  University  of  Chicago 
Press,  1914. 

A  very  important  document.    Many  valuable  bibliographies  are  appended  to  the 
different  chapters.   Contains  the  following  studies:  — 

1.  "The   Minimum  Essentials  in  Elementary-School   Subjects."   H,   B.   Wilson, 
Chairman.  .  .     „   rr   \rj 

2.  "Time  Distribution  by  Subjects  and  Grades  in  Representative  Cities.      H.  W. 

Holmes.  i    >»    t?   i? 

3.  "Typical  Experiments  for  economizing  Time  in  Elementary  Schools.      H.  Ha, 
Thompson. 

4.  Reading:  — 

(a)  "  Standard  Vocabulary."   R.G.Jones. 

(b)  "  Standards  in  Rates  of  Reading."   S.A.Courtis.  ^^ 

(c)  "Selected  Bibliography  upon  Practical  Tests  of  Reading  Ability.      W.  b. 
Gray. 

5.  "Handwriting."   F.  E.  Freeman. 

6.  "Spelling."   H.  C.  Pryor. 

7.  "Essentials  of  Composition  and  Grammar."   J.  F.  Hosic. 

8.  "Current  Practices  and  Standards  in  Arithmetic."   W.  A.  Jessup. 

9.  "Minimum  Essentials  in  Elementary  Geography  and  History."  W.  C.  Bagley. 
10.  "The  Essentials  of  Literature."  J.  F.  Hosic. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION 

Health  supervision  necessary.  As  soon  as  we  begin  to 
study  questions  of  efficiency  in  instruction,  in  an  effort  to 
improve  the  school  output  and  eliminate  waste,  we  run 
at  once  into  questions  of  health,  as  they  relate  to  both  teach- 
ers and  pupils.  Even  a  cursory  examination  of  almost  any 
school  will  reveal  serious  defects  of  ears,  eyes,  nose,  throat, 
lungs,  teeth,  glands,  heart  action,  nutrition,  and  nervous 
coordination  on  the  part  of  children.  When  we  consider 
how  much  such  defects  must  interfere  with  the  efficiency 
of  the  instruction  given,  the  need  for  some  adequate  sys- 
tem of  health  supervision,  if  the  schools  are  to  obtain  good 
results,  becomes  apparent.^  School  health  supervision,  now 
undertaken  by  many  nations,  is  only  another  phase  of  the 
recent  efficiency  and  conservation  movements. 

No  marked  economy  in  school  work  or  increase  in  the 
efficiency  of  instruction  is  possible  if  we  are  to  continue  to 
work  with  poor  tools  or  poor  materials.  A  teacher  lacking 
in  health  and  physical  vigor  is  not  likely  to  prove  high  in 
teaching  efficiency,  and  pupils  who  are  suffering  from  dis- 
ease or  from  lack  of  proper  home  care  or  nourishment  are 
in  no  condition  to  take  any  large  advantage  of  the  instruc- 
tion which  is  provided.    It  is,  in  reality,  a  waste  of  money 

^  "The  health  supervision  of  schools  is  not  a  passing  fad.  The  conser- 
vation of  the  child  is  a  problem  which,  like  that  of  world  peace,  is  bound 
to  take  possession  of  the  minds  of  all  humanitarian  people.  To  the  ethical 
principle  of  humanitarianism  is  added  the  stem  counsel  of  biological  laws, 
which  teach  us  that  an  elaborate  scheme  of  mental  culture  which  proceeds 
without  regard  to  the  needs  of  the  body  is  but  a  house  built  upon  the 
sands."   (Hoag  and  Terman,  Health  Work  in  the  Schools,  p.  1.) 


DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION      345 

to  spend  three  to  five  dollars  a  day  on  a  teacher,  and  four 
to  eight  dollars  a  day  more  per  room  on  equipment,  upkeep, 
maintenance,  and  overhead  charges,  and  neglect  entirely  the 
fact  that  from  twenty  to  sixty  per  cent  of  the  children  in 
the  room  are  not  in  that  physical  condition  which  will  enable 
them  to  partake  with  greatest  advantage  of  the  instruction 
which  is  being  provided.  No  business  would  neglect  so 
important  a  source  of  waste.  If,  by  the  expenditure  of  a 
small  additional  sum,  a  large  portion  of  this  waste  could  be 
eliminated,  a  business  corporation  would  consider  it  good 
policy  to  do  so. 

Results  obtained  in  many  American  and  European  cities 
have  clearly  demonstrated  that  a  very  small  added  cost  — 
from  ten  to  seventy-five  cents  per  pupil  per  year,  varying 
somewhat  with  the  kind  of  health  service  provided:  for  a 
room  of  forty  pupils  an  additional  daily  expense  of  from  two 
to  sixteen  cents  per  room  —  will  provide  a  health  service 
which  will  increase  the  value  of  the  instruction  offered  out 
of  all  proportion  to  its  actual  cost. 

Three  stages  of  developm.ent.  Health  work  in  the  schools 
presents  three  clearly  defined  stages  in  its  development.^ 

The  first  was  what  was  known  as  "medical  inspection," 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  detect  the  presence  of  contagious 
diseases  and  prevent  their  spread  in  the  schools  and  in  the 
community.  In  reality  such  service  was  merely  an  extension 
of  the  work  of  the  local  board  of  health  into  the  schoolrooms. 
The  work  began  in  Boston,  in  1894,  as  a  result  of  a  series 
of  epidemics  among  school  children  there.  Chicago  fol- 
lowed in  1895,  New  York  City  in  1897,  and  Philadelphia 
in  1898.  From  these  larger  cities  the  movement  spread 
rapidly  to  the  smaller  cities,  about  ninety  cities  having  pro- 
vided such  service  by  1907,  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven 

1  Epitomized  from  Hoag  and  Terman's  Health  Work  in  the  Schools, 
chap.  II. 


346  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

by  1910,  and  nearly  five  hundred  by  1913.  The  results  ob- 
tained from  such  "inspections"  have  been  surprising. 

The  second  stage  is  represented  by  an  extension  of  the 
scope  of  the  work  to  include  examinations  for  non-conta- 
gious physical  defects,  such  as  those  of  the  eye,  ear,  nose, 
teeth,  heart  action,  nutrition,  and  nervous  coordination. 
It  was  at  once  seen  that  many  of  these  defects  have  an  im- 
portant influence  on  the  child's  school  progress,  and  that 
many  of  them  were  easily  curable  or  removable.  The  result 
has  been  that  about  one-half  of  our  cities,  mostly  the  larger 
ones,  have  now  undertaken  to  give  their  children  complete 
examinations  for  all  kinds  of  physical  defectiveness,  and 
to  advise  parents  as  to  needs. 

The  third  stage  passes  beyond  these  two  earlier  ones,  and 
enters  the  field  of  preventative  medicine.  Its  keynote  is 
the  cultivation  of  the  health  of  all,  and  the  prevention  of 
defectiveness  in  any  by  the  hygienic  supervision  of  all 
school  activities.  This  third  and  most  important  phase  of 
health  supervision  is  as  yet  only  in  its  beginnings,  but  in 
time  it  is  destined  to  supersede  the  two  earlier  forms,  and  to 
be  extended  to  include  rural  schools  as  well  as  city  schools. 

Only  about  four  per  cent  of  the  school  children,  statistics 
show,  need  to  be  excluded  in  any  one  year  on  account  of 
contagious  diseases,  while  fifty  to  sixty  per  cent  of  the 
children  suffer  from  non-contagious  physical  defects  which 
interfere  more  or  less  with  educational  procedure,  and  which 
need  to  be  taken  into  account  by  school  authorities.  All  need 
instruction  in  personal  hygiene  to  enable  them  to  take 
proper  care  of  their  health.  Health  thus  properly  becomes 
an  educational  problem,  and  one  not  likely  to  be  dealt  with 
in  any  effective  manner  except  by  the  educational  authori- 
ties. The  problem  is  how  best  to  conserve  the  child's  native 
physical  vigor  and  to  overcome,  as  far  as  possible,  his  heredi- 
tary or  acquired  physical  deficiencies,  not  only  that  his 


DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION      347 

progress  in  school  may  be  normal,  but  that  he  may  develop 
into  a  strong  and  sound  human  being,  knowing  how  to  care 
for  himself. 

Scope  of  the  work.  A  system  of  school  health  super- 
vision has  a  much  larger  function  than  the  mere  detection 
of  disease,  though  this  should,  of  course,  be  a  part  of  its 
work.  A  much  larger  field  of  service,  though,  lies  in  the 
detection  of  physical  defects,  in  securing  the  cooperation 
of  the  parents  in  the  treatment  of  these  defects,  in  finding 
and  ameliorating  bad  home  conditions  which  are  interfer- 
ing with  the  health  and  normal  school  progress  of  the  chil- 
dren, in  cooperating  with  the  school  architect  and  sanitary 
engineers  in  securing  hygienic  conditions  in  the  school 
plant,  in  eliminating  existing  conditions  which  are  unsani- 
tary or  which  tend  to  increase  physical  defects  in  school 
children,  in  the  hygienic  supervision  of  school  athletics  and 
playground  work,  in  assisting  teachers  in  hygiene-teaching 
in  the  schools,  and  in  examining  and  advising  teachers  and 
janitors  as  to  their  personal  health.  To  a  large  degree  the 
school  health  service  should  aim  to  improve  the  health  of 
the  entire  community,  making  the  school  a  hygienic  center 
as  well  as  an  educational  one. 

The  work  of  health  supervision  in  our  schools  is  as  yet, 
generally  speaking,  only  in  its  beginnings,  but  that  the 
service  will  be  very  materially  extended  in  the  future  seems 
practically  certain.  The  argument  that  it  invades  the  rights 
of  the  home  is  on  a  par  with  the  arguments  against  compul- 
sory school  attendance  and  prescribed  courses  of  study.  A 
generation  ago  compulsory  school  attendance  was  regarded 
as  a  meddlesome  interference  with  the  rights  of  parents  to 
do  with  their  children  as  they  saw  fit,  and  a  million  illiterate 
adults  among  us  to-day  stand  as  a  witness  to  the  value  of 
such  a  theory.  Still  more,  with  the  somewhat  general  ig- 
norance on  health  questions  on  the  part  of  otherwise  intelli- 


348  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

gent  parents,  millions  of  adults  stand  to-day  as  physical 
witnesses  of  the  neglect  of  parents  in  health  matters.  They 
are  not  physically  what  they  might  have  been,  and  their 
children  are  weaker  in  consequence.  The  children  of  to-day 
represent  the  racial  stock  of  to-morrow,  and  to  conserve 
and  to  improve  this  racial  stock  along  physical  lines  is  as 
important  a  function  of  the  State  as  to  improve  it  along 
intellectual  lines.  We  have  long  recognized  the  principle 
with  reference  to  our  crops  and  our  live  stock,  and  national 
and  state  governments  have  spent  millions  in  improving 
grains  and  stocks  and  yields,  but  we  have  only  recently 
begun  to  recognize  that  the  same  biological  principles  apply 
to  the  rearing  of  children  that  apply  to  the  care  of  trees, 
grains,  horses,  cattle,  hogs,  and  dogs. 

Control  of  the  work.  Medical  inspection  everywhere  be- 
gan as  an  extension  of  the  work  of  boards  of  health,  but  in 
something  over  three  fourths  of  the  cities  of  the  United 
States  now  supporting  health  work  in  the  schools  the  serv- 
ice has  since  been  placed  under  the  control  of  the  board 
of  education.  This  must  now  be  regarded  as  its  proper  place, 
because  the  work  is  essentially  an  educational  service. 
Boards  of  health  tend  too  much  to  emphasize  the  mere  pre- 
vention of  disease;  the  interest  of  teachers  and  school  oflB- 
cers  is  not  usually  enlisted  to  any  great  extent  by  such  serv- 
ice; and  the  board  of  health  physicians  usually  do  not  see 
the  larger  educational  relationships,  and  in  consequence  of 
this  and  of  their  lack  of  both  knowledge  and  authority  they 
cannot  prescribe  the  adjustments  in  educational  processes 
which  are  often  necessary  to  promote  the  health  and  growth- 
needs  of  the  pupils.^    There  are,  however,  some  instances 

1  "While  it  is  possible  for  the  work  to  be  eflBciently  carried  on  by  a 
board  of  health,  it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  it  will  be.  The  board  of 
health  lacks  the  educational  point  of  view,  usually  makes  the  work  curative 
rather  than  preventative,  neglects  the  so-called  'minor'  forms  of  defec- 
tiveness, makes  the  school  service  a  side  issue  of  the  public  health  work, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION      349 

of  excellent  work  being  carried  on  in  the  schools  by  boards 
of  health,  as  well  as  some  poor  work  done  by  school  "health 
departments."  Much  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  man 
who  directs  the  work  and  his  conceptions  as  to  its  nature  and 
scope.  Still,  notwithstanding  exceptions  to  the  statement, 
there  can  no  longer  be  any  question  but  that  the  health 
supervision  of  schools  in  our  American  cities  should  be 
conducted  by  a  health  department,  organized  as  a  part 
of  the  educational  system  and  service  of  the  city. 

Such  a  department  should  be  one  of  the  principal  depart- 
ments of  a  city  school  system,  as  is  shown  in  Figure  14. 
The  work  represents  a  new  technical  field,  requires  expert 
direction,  and  the  expertness  of  the  department  should  be 
respected  in  its  administration.  Only  to  the  superintendent 
of  schools,  as  the  coordinating  head  of  the  whole  school 
organization,  should  the  department  be  subject  and  re- 
sponsible.^ Under  the  director  of  this  department  should 
be  the  physicians,  specialists,  and  nurses  employed,  and  he 
should  direct  their  work.  He  should  also  have  partial  super- 
vision of  the  work  done  in  the  open-air  schools,  the  schools 
for  physical  defectives,  the  playground  work,  and  the  health 
teaching  in  the  schools.  The  clinical  psychologist  and  the 
health  director  should  also  work  in  close  cooperation.  All 
candidates  for  positions  as  teachers  or  janitors  should  be 
examined  physically  and  approved  by  him  before  employ- 
ment, and  those  in  service  should  have  the  right  to  seek  the 
advice  of  the  department  in  physical  matters. 

and  fails  to  secure  the  maximum  cooperation  from  teachers  and  parents." 
{Portland  School  Survey  Report,  chap,  xiv,  p.  349.) 

1  This  responsibility  to  the  educational  department  is  important,  for 
in  many  matters  there  must  be  coordination  of  the  work.  In  case  of  con- 
flict an  appeal  would  naturally  lie  to  the  board  of  education.  There  ought, 
however,  to  be  little  cause  for  conflict.  A  medical  director  -SNnll  find  that 
he  must  work  largely  through  the  superintendent,  principals,  and  teachers, 
and  if  he  is  reasonable  and  helpful  and  does  not  meddle  too  much  with 
the  work  of  instruction,  he  will  secure  the  hearty  cooperation  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  educational  department. 


350  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Three  types  of  health  supervision  may  be  considered  as 
feasible,  namely,  (1)  well-developed  departments  of  school 
health  supervision,  with  an  adequately  equipped  staff; 
(2)  smaller  or  partially  developed  undertakings,  using  a 
whole-time  or  part-time  physician,  and  a  few  nurses;  (3)  in 
still  smaller  cities,  where  a  nurse  and  the  teachers  do  all  of 
the  health  work. 

The  large-city  plan.  A  city  of  fifty  to  sixty  thousand 
school  children  should  have  at  least  the  following  staff :  ^ 

One  chief  health  director,  giving  his  entire  time  to  the 
work.  This  person  should  be  a  physician  who  has  a  special 
interest  in  and  adaptability  for  work  with  school  children. 

One  general  medical  officer. 

One  eye,  ear,  nose,  and  throat  specialist. 

One  specialist  in  mental  and  nervous  diseases,  who  is 
also  experienced  in  psychological  methods.  This  specialist 
would  be  closely  associated  in  his  work  with  the  clinical 
psychologist. 

One  emergency  physician. 

One  woman  physician,  in  charge  of  high-school  girls. 

One  dental  specialist. 

From  twenty  to  forty  school  nurses,  who  visit  rooms, 
observe  pupils  and  sanitary  conditions,  make  preliminary 
examinations  of  pupils,  assist  in  the  teaching  of  hygiene, 
visit  the  homes,  and  follow  up  cases  to  see  that  something 
is  done  when  recommendations  are  made  for  treatment. 

All  physicians  and  specialists  in  a  city  of  this  size  to  be 
full-time  workers,  this  being  considered  more  desirable  than 
part-time  service. 

^  Adapted  from  Hoag  and  Terman's  recommendations.  They  recom- 
mend a  smaller  staff  of  physicians  (seven  against  the  usual  twelve  for  a 
city  of  such  size),  and  more  nurses  than  are  usually  found  (usual  ratio 
about  one  for  5000  children;  desirable,  one  for  every  1000  to  2000  children, 
depending  somewhat  upon  social  conditions).  The  nurse  is  in  many  ways 
more  useful  than  the  physician,  and  much  cheaper. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION      351 

In  equipment  there  will  be  needed  a  central  oflSce,  con- 
taining a  general  reception-room,  examining-rooms,  office, 
a  laboratory  equipped  with  medical  and  psychological  ap- 
paratus, and  a  dental  and  a  medical  clinic.  A  nurse's  room 
in  each  large  school-building,^  with  some  equipment  for 
examinations  and  simple  treatments,  is  also  very  desirable. 

Such  a  system  of  health  supervision,  with  an  adequate 
staff  of  school  nurses,  will  cost  from  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar 
per  year  per  pupil,  depending  upon  the  number  of  nurses 
necessary  and  the  salaries  paid  physicians  and  nurses.  This 
is  about  fifteen  to  thirty  per  cent  of  what  a  city  of  such  size 
would  spend  on  supervision.  By  reducing  the  number  of 
medical  officers  and  specialists  to  one  or  two,  as  would  be 
done  in  a  smaller  city,  both  the  total  and  the  per-capita  cost 
may  be  materially  reduced.  In  some  cases  it  is  reduced 
to  as  low  as  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  per  pupil  per 
year. 

The  smaller-city  plan.  For  the  smaller  city,  which  does 
not  feel  that  it  can  afford  any  elaborate  staff,  the  plan  of  a 
part-time  physician  and  a  relatively  large  number  of  nurses 
(one  for  every  thousand  to  eighteen  hundred  children, 
depending  somewhat  on  social  conditions  and  needs),  or  a 
staff  of  school  nurses  alone,  is  desirable.  In  many  respects 
the  school  nurse  excels  the  physician  in  detecting  disease  and 
defects,  awakens  less  professional  jealousy  among  doctors, 
gets  better  response  from  children  and  parents,  and  coop- 
erates better  with  teachers  and  outside  organizations.  For 
fully  ninety  per  cent  of  the  usual  defects  of  school  children 
the  properly  trained  school  nurse  can  act  as  well  as  the  school 
physician."^   In  beginning  school  health  work  in  a  city  which 

1  In  the  new  Pittsburg  buildings,  at  Gary,  and  in  some  other  places, 
a  school-physician's  room  has  been  provided  in  each  school  building,  as 
preferable  to  a  series  of  central  ofBces. 

^  See  chap,  xi  of  the  Salt  Lake  City  Survey  Report  for  interesting 
statistics  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  school  nurse. 


352  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

has  heretofore  had  no  such  service,  the  trained  school  nurse 
offers  the  best  means  of  making  a  start.  Beginning  with  one 
or  two  school  nurses,  more  will  soon  be  needed,  and  the 
cases  they  cannot  handle  will  soon  demonstrate  the  need  of 
a  part-time  school  physician. 

The  cost  under  the  nurse-alone  plan,  or  nurses  with  a 
part-time  consulting  physician,  is  naturally  somewhat  less 
than  where  a  full-time  medical  service,  as  described  above, 
is  maintained,  though  it  will  not  be  markedly  so  if  an  ade- 
quate staff  of  nurses  is  provided. 

The  teacher  and  health  service.  We  have  not  as  yet 
realized  the  possibilities  for  utilizing  the  teacher  in  city 
health  service,  yet  in  any  school  system  the  effectiveness 
of  any  health  service  established  will  have  to  depend  largely 
upon  the  intelligent  cooperation  of  the  teachers  in  the 
schools.  They  more  than  any  one  else  are  with  the  children, 
and  they  more  than  any  one  else  have  opportunities  for 
observing  the  effects  of  instruction,  nervousness,  eye-strain, 
ear-discharge,  deafness,  and  the  first  symptoms  of  conta- 
gious diseases.  Without  such  cooperation  of  the  teaching 
force  health  supervision  is  doomed  either  to  failure  or  to  an 
indifferent  success.  This  is  an  additional  reason  why  the 
control  should  rest  with  the  school  department,  and  not 
with  the  board  of  health. 

The  present  condition,  though,  is  that  teachers  know 
little  as  to  the  detection  of  diseases,  common  physical  de' 
fects,  the  hygiene  of  growth,  or  preventative  medical  hy- 
giene. Even  good  teachers  are  usually  blind  to  all  but  the 
most  common  disorders,  yet,  under  the  direction  of  a  school 
nurse  or  a  health  director,  they  can  in  time  acquire  marked 
skill  in  detecting  the  symptoms  of  common  physical  de- 
fects. However,  unless  the  teacher's  interest  is  enlisted 
and  she  is  taught  to  observe,  she  is  likely  to  remain  blind 
to  defects,  leaving  all  such  matters  to  the  school  physi- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION      353 

cians  to  look  after  while  she  attends  to  matters  of  in- 
struction. 

The  simplest  form  of  health  service  consists  of  training 
teachers  to  observe  defects,  teaching  them  to  read  the  health 
index  of  children,  and  showing  them  how  to  make  a  health 
survey  of  the  children  in  their  schools.^  Such  work  is 
naturally  elementary  and  preparatory,  but  it  is  of  much  value 
in  training  teachers  to  observe  their  children,  in  overcom- 
ing the  common  prejudice  against  physical  examinations  of 
children,  in  educating  the  public  in  matters  of  child  hygiene 
and  preventative  medicine,  and  in  awakening  a  community 
demand  for  a  better  system  of  health  supervision.  The  next 
step  is  the  employment  of  the  school  nurse,  and  then  the 
school  physician. 

Importance  of  the  service.  The  development  of  the 
health  work  in  connection  with  public  education,  during  the 
past  decade  in  particular  in  this  country  and  during  the  past 
two  decades  in  the  more  important  nations  of  the  civilized 
world,  must  be  regarded  as  a  phase  of  the  important  con- 
servation movement  which  has  recently  arisen.  We  have  of 
late  directed  new  attention  to  the  stoppage  of  waste,  both 
in  our  natural  and  in  our  human  resources.  Yet  the  great 
problem  of  national  conservation  is  not  so  much  soils  or 
mines  or  forests  or  water-power,  important  as  these  may  be, 
but  the  conservation  of  our  national  vitality.  As  a  people 
we  are  beginning  to  see  that  we  live  for  the  generations 
that  are  to  follow  as  well  as  for  ourselves  of  to-day.  Evolu- 

*  Hoag  and  Terman,  in  their  Health  Work  in  the  Schools,  devote  two 
chapters  to  showing  how  this  may  be  done.  Chapter  v,  on  "The  Health 
Grading  of  School  Children  by  Teachers,"  gives  forms  and  blanks  to  be 
used  and  tells  what  to  look  for,  while  Chapter  vi,  on  "A  Demonstration 
Clinic  for  Instruction  in  the  Observation  of  Defects,"  gives  a  stenographic 
report  of  a  clinic  held  for  the  instruction  of  teachers  in  examining  children. 
These  two  chapters  outline  plans  for  such  work  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
it  possible  to  employ  the  method  in  small-town  school  systems. 


354  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

tion  and  biologic  progress  within  recent  years  have  brought 
this  home  to  us. 

The  great  masses  of  our  people,  though,  have  not  as  yet 
clearly  conceived  the  idea,  and  not  infrequently  oppose 
attempts  in  this  direction.  Among  the  mass  of  our  people 
much  ignorance  as  to  health,  disease,  and  hygienic  laws 
still  exists.  The  annual  loss  to  our  people  through  prevent- 
able diseases  and  deaths  is  still  appallingly  large.  To  reduce 
such  ignorance  and  waste  is  a  national  duty,  and  no  agency 
of  our  society  has  such  opportunities  for  usefulness  in  this 
direction  as  has  the  public  school.  It  is,  in  fact,  society's  one 
important  agency  for  improving  the  health  of  succeeding 
generations,  and  for  reducing  the  present  enormous  human 
waste.  Even  the  waste  occasioned  in  its  own  work  by  physi- 
cal defects  and  disease  is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  expense 
for  the  best  of  health  supervision  and  hygiene  teaching. 

This  new  work  is  of  large  importance,  both  for  the  im- 
provement of  society  and  the  increased  efficiency  in  in- 
struction, and  the  future  is  almost  certain  to  see  it  developed 
into  a  very  important  branch  of  our  public  school  service.^ 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  Explain  the  nature  of  the  service  to  be  rendered  by  a  department  of 
health  supervision  under  each  of  the  headings  enumerated  under 
"Scope  of  the  work." 

2.  Maxwell  states  that  health  supervision  reduces  the  cost  of  instruc- 

1  "The  fundamental  method  of  adjusting  the  schools  to  the  situation  is, 
first,  to  get  specialized  intelligence  at  work  on  the  problem;  second,  to  study 
and  investigate  health  needs  of  pupils  and  community;  third,  to  study  the 
relation  of  the  school  to  other  health  agencies,  in  order  to  determine  its  sup- 
plemental function;  and,  fourth,  actively  and  energetically,  with  state  aid 
and  community  cooperation,  to  go  forward  and  make  the  health  knowledge 
now  possessed  by  the  few  the  actual  health  practice  of  the  many.  Pre- 
ventative medicine  and  preventative  education  must  go  hand  in  hand. 
The  goal  is  economy,  efficiency,  national  vitality,  and  national  happiness." 
(L.  W.  Rapeer,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913, 
p.  658.) 


DEPAETMENT  OF  HEALTH  SUPERVISION      355 

tion,  and  thus  saves  instead  of  costs.    Does  this  appeal  to  you  as 
reasonable?   Where  would  the  reductions  come  in? 

3.  Any  adequate  system  for  health  supervision  in  the  schools  wdll, 
almost  of  necessity,  come  to  involve  for  some  children  (a)  free  dental 
work,  (b)  free  spectacles,  and  (c)  school  feeding.  Do  these  seem  to  you 
to  be  legitimate  consequences  of  free  and  compulsory  education? 

4.  Are  such  services  to  children  essentially  different  from  the  servicei 
rendered  farmers  by  national  and  state  agricultural  departments? 

5.  Why  is  it  easier  to  secure  appropriations  for  improving  grains  and 
breeds  of  cattle  and  for  eliminating  diseases  among  animals  than  for 
improving  the  health  of  children? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Find  the  per-capita  cost  for  health  supervision  of  different  types  in 
different  cities. 

2.  Find  the  per-capita  cost  for  instruction,  maintenance  and  equipment, 
and  overhead  (office  and  supervision)  expenses  in  some  city  school 
system,  and  show  what  percentage  of  additional  cost  a  satisfactory 
system  of  health  supervision  would  add. 

3.  Plan  a  health  service,  of  different  t\'pes,  for  some  city  you  know,  and 
estimate  its  total  and  per-pupil  cost. 

4.  Investigate  and  report  on :  — 

(a)  Open-air  schools. 
(6)  School  feeding. 

(c)  Dental  clinics. 

(d)  Work  of  school  nurses. 

(e)  Mortahty  rates  of  children  in  cities. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Dresslar,  F.  B.  "Methods  and  Means  of  Health  Teaching  in  the  United 
States";  in  Report  of  U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1913,  vol.  i, 
pp.  415-34. 

A  good  descriptive  article  on  health  service,  hygiene,  and  the  work  of  doctors  and 
nurses. 

Gulick,  L.,  and  Ajtcs,  L.  P.  The  Medical  Inspection  of  Schools.  224  pp. 
Russell  Sage  Foundation,  New  York,  3d  ed.,  1913. 

An  excellent  book  on  the  administrative  side  of  the  question.   Gives  many  blank 
forms  and  many  data  as  to  the  service.   Good  bibliography. 

Hines,  L.  M.  "Some  Phases  of  the  Health  Supervision  of  Schools";  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1914,  pp.  663-68. 

The  work  to  be  done  and  the  practical  difficulties  in  the  way.   A  good  paper  from 
a  superintendent's  point  of  view. 

Hoag,  E.  B.,  and  Terman,  L.  M.    Health  Work  in  the  Schools.    321  pp. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1914. 
An  excellent  book,  technically  accurate,  yet  written  in  a  style  simple  enough  to  bring 


S56  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  work  within  the  comprehension  of  the  teacher  and  layman.  Contains  outlines  for 
health  supervision,  the  health  grading  of  school  children,  and  the  teaching  of  hygiene. 

Maxwell,  W.  H.  "The  Necessity  for  Departments  of  Health  within  Boards 
of  Education";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1909, 
pp.  252-57. 

Necessity  for,  influence  of,  and  best  form  for  control  of  department. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.   Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

Chapter  XIV  on  medical  inspection,  hygiene  teaching,  physical  training,  and  special 
schools  for  defectives  gives  a  good  outline  for  a  health  service  suited  to  the  needs  of 
a  city  of  30,000  school  children. 

Rapeer,  L.  W.  School  Health  Administration.  360  pp.  Teachers  College 
Publications,  New  York,  1913. 

An  excellent  work  on  the  national  health  problem;  how  the  problem  is  being  solved 
in  twenty -five  cities;  and  a  tentative  standard  plan  for  the  administration  of  medical 
inspection. 

Rapeer,  L.  W.   "The  Administration  of  Educational  Hygiene";  in  PrO' 
ceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  649-58. 
A  good  brief  statement  of  the  problem,  and  a  plan  for  handling  it. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.    324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  XI,  on  health  supervision,  describes  conditions  in  a  city  of  110,000  inhabi- 
tants, where  the  work  is  imder  intelligent  direction. 

Springfield,  Illinois.  Survey  of  the  Public  Schools.  153  pp.  Russell  Sage 
Foundation,  New  York,  1914. 

Chapter  X,  on  Medical  Inspection,  describes  the  work  carried  on  in  a  city  of  52,000 
inhabitants  by  one  nurse  and  a  dental  clinic. 

Terman,  L.  M.    The  Teacher's  Health.    133  pp.    Houghton  Miffin  Co., 
Boston,  1913. 
An  excellent  study  of  the  hygiene  of  an  occupation. 
Terman,  L.  M.  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child.  417  pp.  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  Boston,  1913. 

An  excellent  book  for  the  teacher.  Contains  much  information  relating  to  growth, 
physiological  differences,  malnutrition,  physical  defects,  preventative  mental  hygiene, 
and  the  effects  of  school  life  on  children,  which  every  teacher  ought  to  know.  Good 
chapter  bibliographies. 

"Wood,  T.  D.  Health  and  Education.  108  pp.  Ninth  Year-Booh  of  the 
National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,  part  i.  University  of 
Chicago  Press,  1910. 

Health  examinations;  school  sanitation;  the  hygiene  of  instruction;  health  instruc- 
tion; physical  education;  bibliography.  A  valuable  report. 

Wood,  T.  D.,  and  others.  The  Nurse  in  Education.  76  pp.  Ninth  Year- 
Booh  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,  Part  ii. 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1910. 

Chiefly  devoted  to  the  educational  value  of  the  nurse  in  the  public  school.  Bibli- 
ography. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT 

The  compulsion  to  attend.  A  certain  form  of  the  ques- 
tion of  school  efficiency  is  involved  in  the  matter  of  the 
attendance  of  children  at  the  instruction  which  has  been 
provided.  After  schools  have  been  created  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  children  of  a  community,  they  fail  of  their 
purpose  to  the  degree  to  which  the  children  fail  to  attend. 
One  measure  of  the  efficiency  of  a  school  system  must  be 
the  percentage  of  the  total  school  population  in  attendance 
at  instruction;  another  must  be  the  percentage  of  those 
beyond  the  compulsory  school  ages  who  continue  to  attend. 

That  some  compulsion  to  attend  is  necessary,  in  the  case 
of  a  varying  percentage  of  the  children  of  school  age  in  dif- 
ferent communities,  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge.  To 
provide  for  the  application  of  such  compulsion  almost  all  of 
our  States  have  enacted  some  form  of  a  compulsory-attend- 
ance law,  and  within  the  past  decade  a  number  have  ma- 
terially strengthened  their  earlier  laws  on  the  subject.  In 
most  of  our  States,  however,  the  laws  relating  to  the  com- 
pulsory attendance  of  children  at  school  are  as  yet  but 
poorly  enforced,  and  in  some  States  they  are  virtually  a 
dead  letter.  In  many  of  our  States,  too,  it  is  only  in  the 
cities  and  larger  towns  that  any  real  attempt  to  enforce 
compulsory  attendance  has  been  made. 

Differences  and  difficulties.  The  different  state  laws 
vary  much  in  the  age  limits  for  compulsion,  the  period  of 
attendance  at  school  required  each  year,  the  means  pro- 
vided for  enforcing  the  law,  the  relation  of  the  public  schools 


858  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

to  private  and  parochial  schools  with  regard  to  enforce- 
ment, and  the  relation  of  compulsory  attendance  to  child 
labor  in  the  state.  While  a  few  States  and  cities  have  made 
commendable  progress  in  the  matter  of  the  compulsory- 
attendance  of  children  at  school,  we  may  be  said,  as  a  na- 
tion, to  have  made  as  yet  only  a  good  beginning. 

In  part  this  condition  is  due  to  the  attitude  of  our  people, 
many  of  whom  have  not  as  yet  seen  the  necessity  for  such 
laws;  in  part  to  the  desire  of  parents  to  get  their  children 
at  work  for  the  wages  they  may  bring  in;  in  part  to  the  atti- 
tude of  teachers  and  school  principals,  who  do  not  want 
street  children  brought  into  their  schools;  in  part  to  the 
attitude  of  the  school  authorities,  who  do  not  want  to  go 
to  the  expense  of  enforcing  the  law  and,  in  addition,  pro- 
viding special  classes  and  schools  to  meet  the  needs  of  those 
brought  in;  in  part  to  inadequate  census  records  as  to  chil- 
dren who  ought  to  be  in  school  and  are  not;  in  part  to  the 
rather  general  lack  of  any  relationship  between  private 
and  public  education  in  the  matters  of  attendance  and  the 
character  of  instruction;  in  part  to  inadequate  child-labor 
laws,  or  the  lack  of  proper  enforcement  of  those  existing; 
and  in  part  to  the  somewhat  general  lack  of  any  provision 
for  extension  or  vocational  training  for  the  older  pupils  who 
might  be  induced  or  who  would  be  compelled  to  attend. 

The  difl&culties  which  have  been  met  with  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  attendance  laws  have  indicated  three  main  needs, 
namely,  (1)  better  means  and  methods  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  attendance  and  child-labor  laws;  (2)  better 
plans  for  the  registration  of  children  of  the  compulsory- 
attendance  ages;  and  (3)  the  provision  of  specialized  instruc- 
tion to  meet  the  needs  of  the  new  children  brought  into 
the  schools.  The  tendency  of  our  states  to  extend  the  time 
of  required  attendance  at  school  to  the  sixteenth  year,  and 
to  require  attendance  every  day  the  schools  are  in  session. 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     359 

have  together  given  new  emphasis  to  the  need  for  special- 
ized and  differentiated  instruction  in  the  schools. 

The  attendance  department.  In  a  small  city  a  single 
attendance  officer,  employed  by  the  board  of  education, 
and  working  under  the  direction  of  the  superintendent  of 
schools  and  in  cooperation  with  principals  and  teachers,  is 
about  the  best  which  now  can  be  provided.  The  work  of 
this  officer  will  be  to  receive  daily  reports  by  telephone  from 
the  schools  and  other  sources  as  to  the  non-attendance  of 
children;  to  visit  the  homes  of  such  children  as  are  reported 
absent;  to  ascertain  the  reasons  for  their  non-attendance; 
to  take  up  on  the  streets  children  found  there  during  school 
hours;  to  receive  applications  for  labor  permits,  and  to  issue 
the  same  after  investigation;  to  serve  notices  on  parents  as 
to  violations  of  the  law;  and,  in  extreme  cases,  to  enter  and 
follow  up  prosecutions.  It  is  the  business  of  the  attendance 
officer  to  guard  the  educational  rights  of  children,  and  in 
doing  so  he  represents  the  superintendent  of  instruction,  the 
teachers,  and  the  State. 

The  following  record  of  the  work  of  an  attendance  officer, 
in  a  city  of  approximately  fourteen  thousand  inhabitants, 
employing  one  man  to  attend  to  the  work,  and  maintaining 
a  parental  school,  will  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  duties  of 
such  an  official  in  a  small  city :  — 

Number  of  cases  reported  to  office 267 

(a)  By  principals  and  teachers 221 

(6)  By  citizens 15 

(c)   By  policemen 31 

Number  of  cases  investigated 251 

Children  kept  at  home 207 

(a)  By  parents  (temporary  necessity) 48 

(6)  By  parents  (neglect) 89 

(c)  By  sickness 47 

(d)  By  poverty 23 

Children  wathdra^n  and  sent  to  work 14 

(a)  Compulsory  age  passed 10 

(6)  Illegally 4 


S60  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Children  having  left  city 9 

Children  truant  unknown  to  parents 21 

Children  returned  to  school 232 

Parents  of  children  dealt  with 183 

(a)  Warned 171 

(6)  Brought  before  officer 12 

Children  brought  before  Juvenile  Court 12 

(a)  Put  on  probation 10 

(6)  Sent  to  State  Training  School 2 

Cases  reported  to  the  Associated  Charities 23 

Labor  permits  applied  for 132 

Labor  permits  issued,  after  investigation 116 

In  a  larger  city  the  attendance  work  will  naturally  re- 
quire a  larger  staff,  the  city  being  divided  into  attendance 
districts  for  the  better  prosecution  of  the  work.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  attendance  department  in  the  educational  or- 
ganization of  a  large  city  is  shown  in  Figure  14.  In  such  a 
city  the  attendance  officers  will  cooperate  closely  with  the 
parental  school  or  schools,  the  special  ungraded  rooms  for 
troublesome  cases  and  defective  children,  the  school  nurse, 
the  juvenile  court,  the  charity  workers,  and  the  private  and 
parochial  schools.  Offering,  as  we  do,  to  parents  the  choice 
of  the  kind  of  school  to  which  they  will  send  their  child- 
Ten,  it  is  only  proper  that  the  public  school  attendance  offi- 
cers should  enforce,  without  charge,  attendance  at  private 
and  parochial  schools  as  well  as  at  public  schools.  This 
naturally  involves  full  cooperation  between  private  and 
parochial  schools  on  the  one  hand  and  the  public  school 
authorities  on  the  other. 

The  general  duties  of  the  different  attendance  officers, 
however,  may  not  be  particularly  different  in  the  larger 
city  from  what  they  are  in  a  smaller  one,  unless  better  means 
for  enforcing  the  compulsory-attendance  laws  are  pro- 
vided. These  better  means  involve  a  better  plan  for  coop- 
eration between  all  of  the  different  educational  agencies  of 
the  community,  and  a  better  organization  of  specialized 
instruction  and  of  special  schools. 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT 


361 


Increased  school  attendance.  As 
will  be  seen  from  the  preceding  re- 
port of  the  work  of  an  attendance 
officer  in  a  small  city,  his  handling 
of  the  cases  which  were  reported  to 
him  was  quite  satisfactory.  His  ser- 
vices to  the  city  fully  justified  his 
appointment.  His  presence  and  his 
official  activity  also  doubtless  kept 
other  children  and  other  parents 
from  doing  things  which  would  have 
resulted  in  their  being  reported  to 
him.  His  work  thus  has  a  preventa- 
tive, as  well  as  a  correctional  value. 
It  is  also  safe  to  say  that  by  reason 
of  his  official  existence  and  work  both 
the  regularity  of  attendance  of  chil- 
dren enrolled  and  the  total  number 
of  children  in  attendance  were  ma- 
terially increased. 

The  increased  regularity  of  attend- 
ance of  children  enrolled  is  of  itself 
an  important  item,  as  all  studies  have 
shown  a  close  correlation  between 
retardation  and  dropping  from  school 
on  the  one  hand,  and  irregular  at- 
tendance on  the  other.  1  As  for  the 
increased  total  attendance,  if  the 
state  and  county  school  funds  had 
been  apportioned  to  this  city  wholly, 
or  even  partially,  on  the  basis  of 
attendance,    instead    of    on   school 


01- 


Absent 

less  than 

25  half  days 


Absent 
more  than 
25  half  days 

WM  Dropping  Out 
nffl  Non-promotion 
mMlil  Promotion 
Fig.    31.     EFFECT    OF    AB- 
SENCE     ON     PROMOTION 
RATE      AND      DROPPING 
FROM   SCHOOL 
(From  the  LSludy  of  Oner  A  ge  and 
Prnc/ress  in  the  Public  Schools 
of  Dayton,  Ohio.) 

^  See  Ayres,  L.  P.,  "Irregular  Attendance  tlie  Cause  of  Retardation"; 
in  Psychological  Clinic^  vol.  in,  pp.  1-9.   (March,  1909.) 


36^  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

census,  as  is  done  in  a  number  of  our  American  States,  it 
is  probable  that  this  attendance  officer  would  have  earned 
for  the  city  a  substantial  portion  of  the  salary  paid  him. 

The  registration  of  school  children.  The  difficulty  with 
all  attendance  departments  managed  according  to  the  plan 
just  given,  which  is  the  usual  plan,  is  that  the  officers  work, 
in  a  way,  in  the  dark.  They  take  up  children  found  on 
the  streets  and  investigate  absences,  but  the  information 
collected  as  to  the  children  who  ought  to  be  in  school  is 
usually  of  little  value  for  purposes  of  enforcing  attendance. 

The  usual  school  census  is  taken  for  purposes  of  the  ap- 
portionment of  school  fimds,  and  not  for  purposes  of  en- 
forcing compulsory  attendance  and  child-labor  laws.  What 
is  called  for  is  the  number  of  children  of  the  legal  school  age, 
such  as  five  to  eighteen,  six  to  twenty,  or  seven  to  fifteen, 
the  legal  school  ages  varying  in  the  different  States.  Some- 
times two  or  three  group-ages  are  collected,  such  as  five  to 
seven,  eight  to  fifteen,  and  sixteen  to  eighteen,  but  again 
such  figures  are  of  little  real  value.  In  some  States  a  school 
census  is  taken  only  once  in  two  years;  in  some  other 
States  no  school  census  of  any  kind  is  taken.  ^ 

In  the  absence  of  any  accurate  data  as  to  ages,  number, 
or  location  of  the  children  of  school  age  in  a  city  or  district, 
neither  the  attendance  officers  nor  the  principals  can  know, 
with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  what  children  should  report 
for  school  at  the  beginning  of  any  school  year.  Neither  do 
they  know,  usually,  what  children  are  attending  private 
or  parochial  schools  instead  of  the  public  schools,  nor  how 
regularly  they  attend  such  schools.  The  lack  of  accurate 
age  and  residence  data,  and  the  somewhat  general  lack  of 

^  California  is  a  good  case  in  point.  When  the  State  changed  the  basis 
for  the  apportionment  of  state  funds  from  school  census  to  average  daily 
attendance,  it  abolished  the  annual  school  census  as  a  useless  waste  of 
school  funds. 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     S63 

cooperation  between  public  and  private  educational  agen- 
cies in  the  enforcement  of  attendance  laws,  are  serious 
defects  which  need  to  be  remedied. 

What  is  needed,  as  a  prerequisite  to  any  adequate  enforce- 
ment of  compulsory-attendance  and  child-labor  laws,  is  an 
accurate  school  census.  This  should  be  on  card  forms,  so  as 
to  be  capable  of  being  sorted  into  any  grouping  which  may 
seem  desirable.  There  should  be  a  card  for  each  child, 
containing:  ^ 

(a)  Name  of  child  (surname  first). 
(6)  Sex  of  child. 

(c)  Month,  day,  and  year  of  birth,  from  which  the  number  of 
years  old,  at  last  birthday,  is  also  to  be  set  down.  The 
authority  upon  which  the  age  is  taken  (word  of  parent; 
birth  certificate;  baptismal  certificate;  passport;  etc.,)  should 
also  be  indicated,  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  age  and  working 
certificates  later  on. 

(d)  Country  of  birth,  and  nationality  of  father  and  mother. 

(e)  Name  of  parent  (father  or  mother),  guardian,  or  other 
person  standing  in  parental  relation. 

(f)  Abode,  including  school  attendance  district;  post-ofifice  ad- 
dress; and,  if  in  cities,  street,  number,  and  apartment  or 
flat. 

(g)  Physical  condition  (good;  deaf;  dumb;  blind;  crippled). 
(h)  Mental  condition  (good;  otherwise). 

(^)  School  attending  (public,  private,  parochial),  and  name  of. 
(j)  Position  in  school  (grade). 
(k)  Reason,  if  not  attending  school. 
(/)  If  employed,  where  and  how. 
(m)  Vaccination  certificate  record. 

All  such  records  should  be  kept  in  duplicate,  one  set  at  the 
attendance  department  office,  and  the  other  at  the  office  of 
the  principal  of  the  school  attended,  be  it  public,  private, 
or  parochial. 

A  continuing  school  census.   After  such  data  have  once 

^  From  the  author's  State  and  County  Edvcational  Reorganization,  Sec. 
221.  See  also  the  Report  of  the  Butte  School  Survey,  chap.  x. 


364  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

been  collected  and  tabulated,  by  ages,  by  schools  attended, 
and  by  attendance  districts,  the  data  should  be  kept  fresh 
and  accurate  by  means  of  continuous  corrections.  A  new 
census  need  not  be  taken  very  often,  and  not  necessarily 
for  the  entire  city  at  any  one  time.  To  keep  a  continuing 
census,  by  which  is  meant  a  constant  correction  of  the 
data,  is  much  more  important.  To  do  this  it  should  be  made 
the  legal  duty  of  parents  or  guardians,  and  of  all  public, 
private,  and  parochial  school  authorities,  to  report  at  once 
all  changes  in  residence  or  in  schools,  and  all  new  children 
entering  the  district  or  any  school  in  it  should  be  reported 
at  once  and  cards  should  be  made  up  for  them.  By  making 
it  the  duty  of  schools,  teachers,  parents,  police,  and  charity 
organizations  to  report  changes,  and  by  imposing  small  fines 
for  violation  of  the  requirement,  our  States  could  in  time 
secure  from  our  people  data  from  which  reasonably  accurate 
school-census  records  could  be  constantly  at  hand,  and 
from  which  compulsory-attendance  and  child-labor  laws 
could  be  carefully  and  fully  enforced.  ^In  the  larger  cities 
additional  means,  such  as  the  requirement  that  moving 
and  express  wagons  be  licensed,  and  that  owners  be  re- 
quired to  report  changes  in  tenants,  would  also  probably 
need  to  be  imposed.  ^ 

It  is  only  by  some  such  means  that  any  accurate  and  con- 
tinuing census  of  children  of  attendance  ages  can  be  vigor- 
ously enforced.  Few  American  States  are  as  yet  ready  for 
such  general  legislation.  The  beginnings  will  have  to  be 
made  by  laws  authorizing  cities  to  establish  such  attendance 
and  census  departments,  and  permitting  them  to  enforce 
such  laws  within  their  own  boundaries.^  In  time  we  shall 
in  all  probability  come  to  a  somewhat  general  state  enforce- 

1  New  York  City  forms  our  best  example  of  a  city  with  special  school- 
census  powers.  The  law  for  this  city  probably  represents  as  yet  our  best  at- 
tendance legislation. 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     365 

ment  of  some  such  provisions.^  The  provision  of  public  edu* 
cation  as  a  state  necessity,  without  the  natural  corollary 
that  all  within  certain  ages  be  required  to  partake  of  the 
advantages  provided,  is  hardly  a  defensible  procedure. 

The  cost  of  maintaining  such  a  school  census  will  natur- 
ally be  somewhat  higher  than  for  taking  the  present  type  of 
school  census,  but  its  value  will  be  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
increased  cost.  Aside  from  forming  a  basis  for  the  apportion- 
ment of  school  funds,  the  present  form  of  school  census  is  of 
little  real  value  for  any  purpose.  It  is  also  commonly  taken 
on  sheets,  bound  in  a  book  or  rolled  up,  and  is  but  little  used 
for  attendance  purposes.  The  card  form  is  serviceable.  A 
small  force  of  record  clerks  will  of  course  be  needed  to  keep 
the  records  accurate.  Most  of  the  work  of  house-to-house 
revision  can  be  accomplished  by  the  attendance  officer  dur- 
ing the  summer  vacation,  at  no  large  extra  expense.  Such 
a  plan  for  census  records  also  involves  the  education  of 
many  communities  up  to  new  and  larger  conceptions  as  to 
the  work  and  purpose  of  public  education. 

Further  obstacles  and  needs.  From  the  beginning  of  our 
attempts  to  enforce  compulsory-education  laws  it  has  been 
found  that  special  adjustments  within  the  schools  were 
necessary  to  meet  the  peculiar  needs  of  the  new  classes 
brought  in  from  the  streets.  This  has  been  particularly  the 

^  Encouragement  for  this  belief  is  found  in  the  history  of  compulsory 
education  with  us  and  abroad.  The  first  State  to  enact  a  compulsory- 
attendance  law  was  Massachusetts,  in  1852.  It  was  fifteen  years  before 
another  State  attempted  such  legislation,  —  Vermont,  1867.  By  1885  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  twenty  States  had  enacted  such  laws,  and  by 
1890  seven  more  States  had  done  so.  By  1908  almost  all  of  the  States  had 
enacted  some  form  of  compulsory-attendance  laws.  There  has  also,  within 
the  past  fifteen  years,  been  a  very  marked  increase  in  the  requirements  of 
these  laws,  both  in  the  extension  of  the  age  limits  for  compulsion  to  attend, 
and  in  the  extension  of  the  required  period  from  a  few  weeks  to  the  entire 
time  the  schools  are  in  session.  Compared  with  a  nation  such  as  Germany, 
though,  we  are  as  yet  in  the  beginnings  of  compulsion  to  attend. 


366  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

case  in  communities  where  compulsory  attendance  has  not 
been  enforced  in  previous  years,  and  where  many  truants, 
incorrigibles,  and  neglected  children  of  school  age  are  on  the 
streets.  To  bring  these  into  the  ordinary  schoolroom  often 
tends  to  a  demoralization  of  the  schoolroom  procedure. 
Such  pupils  do  not  profit  by  the  ordinary  classroom  instruc- 
tion, and  their  influence  often  is  positively  bad.  In  the 
past,  unable  to  handle  such  pupils,  the  school  has  expelled 
them  and  turned  them  loose  on  the  streets.  With  the  recent 
tendency  of  our  States  to  insist  on  these  pupils  being 
brought  back  into  school,  and  the  further  tendency  of  our 
more  progressive  States  to  insist  upon  school  attendance 
until  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  for  all  the  time  the  schools  are 
in  session,  the  need  for  some  special  adjustment  of  the  in- 
struction to  meet  the  peculiar  needs  of  such  children  is  much 
more  pressing  than  it  used  to  be.^  The  problem  of  the  de- 
fective, —  the  deaf,  blind,  crippled,  tubercular,  and  sub- 
normal mentally,  —  as  well  as  the  problem  of  the  children 
of  needy,  sick,  or  dependent  parents,  also  calls  for  special 
adjustments  and  consideration. 

It  is  soon  seen  that  the  logical  outcome  of  any  attempt 
at  the  general  compulsory  education  of  all,  up  to  fifteen  or 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  for  every  day  the  schools  are  in 
session,  demands  the  provision  of  a  large  number  of  differ- 
ent types  of  educational  opportunities,  through  which  every 
boy  and  girl  in  the  community  may  find  in  the  school  a 
type  of  education  suited  to  his  or  her  peculiar  needs.  It  is 
along  some  such  lines  as  were  followed  in  the  reorganization 

^  "By  steadily  raising  the  age  of  compulsory  attendance,  the  schools 
have  come  to  contain  many  children  who,  having  no  natural  appetite  for 
study,  would  under  the  old  regime  have  left  school  early.  Compulsory 
attendance  laws  do  not  create  brain  capacity  nor  modify  hereditary  ten- 
dencies; they  only  throw  responsibility  for  doing  both  upon  the  schools 
and  create  expectancy  in  the  public,"  (G.  H.  Martin,  in  Report  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education,  1903-04,  p.  98.) 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     867 

effected  in  the  schools  at  Newton,  Massachusetts,  as 
shown  in  Figure  28,  or  the  Los  Angeles  reorganization,  as 
described  in  Chapter  XVIII,  that  our  schools  must  move. 
Perhaps,  in  time,  the  Gary  idea  may  in  many  places  help 
to  solve  the  difficulties.  Otherwise  we  shall  only  be  forcing 
children  into  schools  from  which  they  get  little  of  value 
and  where  they  often  become  a  nuisance,  with  a  resulting 
increase  in  retardation,  troublesome  cases,  and  corporal 
punishment,  and,  in  reality,  defeat  the  citizenship  ends  for 
which  these  schools  primarily  stand.  The  whole  question  of 
compulsory  attendance  is  tied  up  closely  with  the  problems 
of  flexible  promotion,  adjustment  of  instruction  to  individ- 
ual needs,  provision  of  special-type  schools,  reorganization 
of  the  work  of  the  upper  grades,  increasing  the  opportuni- 
ties for  vocational  training,  and,  as  a  result,  materially  in- 
creasing both  the  efficiency  and  the  cost  of  public  education. 

Types  of  schools  needed.  In  addition  to  the  adjustments 
and  differentiations  just  indicated,  city  school  systems  have 
need  of  at  least  two  special  types  of  schools  intended  prima- 
rily to  deal  with  difficult  cases,  and  cities  of  sufficient  size 
should  add  a  third  type. 

The  first  is  the  disciplinary  class,  at  least  one  of  which 
should  exist  in  the  smaller  cities,  and  in  the  larger  cities 
one  such  room  probably  could  be  advantageously  organized 
in  connection  with  every  large  elementary  school.  Such 
classes  would  of  course  be  ungraded  classes,  taught  by 
specially  capable  teachers,  and  should  not  attempt  to  handle 
over  about  twenty  pupils.  To  this  room  or  school  the 
principals  should  have  power  to  commit  pupils,  their  stay 
in  such  usually  being  somewhat  brief.  The  purpose  is  to 
handle,  in  an  efficient  and  orderly  manner,  and  to  turn 
back  if  possible  into  the  main  current  of  the  school,  those 
who  have  begun  to  manifest  difficulty  in  fitting  into  the 
work  of  the  ordinary  school. 


368  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

The  second  type  of  school  is  the  parental  school,  to  which 
those  who  cannot  be  controlled  in  the  disciplinary  classes 
may  be  committed  for  an  indeterminate  period.  Some  of 
these  will  be  regular  truants,  and  some  will  be  of  the  chroni- 
cally disobedient  and  disorderly  type.  Many  of  these  can 
be  turned  back  into  the  ordinary  school,  but  some  will  not 
greatly  profit  there.  These  schools  are  of  two  types,  the 
second  of  which  involves  a  third. 

In  one,  which  is  perhaps  the  type  most  commonly  found, 
the  work  is  heavy;  the  commitment  is  formal  and  usually 
involves  permanent  residence  at  the  school  until  paroled; 
and  the  course  of  instruction  is  more  individual,  and  em- 
phasizes military  drill,  manual  work,  agricultural  work, 
music,  and  constructional  activities.  The  hours  are  long, 
the  theory  of  the  school  being  to  make  the  truant  or  incor- 
rigible want  to  reinstate  himseK  or  herself  in  the  regular 
school,  while  developing  in  him  or  her  suifficient  self-con- 
trol to  enable  this  to  be  brought  about. 

The  other  type  of  parental  school  recognizes  the  pupil  as 
"a  highly  specialized,  poorly  organized  individual,  whose 
powers  of  correlation  are  weak";  imposes  few  conditions  on 
him;  treats  him  tolerantly  and  kindly;  and  aims  to  discover 
interests  upon  which  the  building  of  his  character  may  be 
begun.  Those  who  do  not  seem  to  be  able  to  return  to  the 
regular  school  are  taken  from  the  parental  school,  as  soon  as 
they  have  discovered  that  the  world  is  their  friend  rather 
than  their  enemy,  and  are  sent  to  a  third  type  of  special 
school. 

This  third  type  is  a  central  school  for  peculiar  boys  and 
girls.  In  the  Newton  school  system  this  school  consisted 
of  two  special  classes,  organized  in  the  high  school  building, 
no  attention  being  paid  in  sending  pupils  there  to  the  ques- 
tion of  graduation  from  the  eighth  grade.  In  Los  Angeles 
a  central  special  school  has  been  provided.    Such  a  class 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     369 

or  school  should  emphasize  music,  drawing,  manual  and 
domestic  activities,  constructional  and  prevocational  work, 
dramatics,  and  group-organization  activities.  From  this 
school  the  pupils  may  in  turn  be  graduated  into  a  regular 
trade  school  or  a  manual  arts  school,  if  such  exists,  though 
most  of  the  pupils  in  such  classes  will  pass  out  into  life  soon 
after  the  end  of  the  period  of  compulsory  school  attendance. 
The  instruction  for  such  pupils  ought  to  lead  them  toward 
such  trades  or  occupations  as  they  are  Hkely  to  become  suc- 
cessful in,  such  as  carpentry,  bricklaying,  plastering,  plumb- 
ing, electrical  work,  printing,  automobile  repairing,  acting 
as  chauffeur,  gardening,  cooking,  sewing,  serving,  etc. 

With  a  few  pupils  all  of  these  types  of  speciaKzed  in- 
struction will  fail,  and  such  will  need  to  be  committed  to  a 
state  institutional  school,  for  a  period  of  years. 

The  educational  opportunity.  The  educational  problem 
which  faces  any  city  to-day  is  how  best  to  educate  all  of 
its  boys  and  girls  until  they  have  completed  the  period  of 
required  school  attendance.  If  this  is  until  the  boy  or  girl 
reaches  the  age  of  sixteen,  as  present  tendencies  seem  to 
indicate  wUl  in  time  come  to  be  the  case  generally,  it  should 
be  the  ambition,  as  it  is  the  opportunity,  of  every  commu- 
nity to  get  practically  every  mentally  normal  boy  and  girl 
through  the  six  elementary-school  grades  and  some  inter- 
mediate-school course.  This  means  the  completion  of  the 
ninth  grade  work,  in  some  type  of  school,  by  practically 
all.  The  present  "miring  in  the  grades"  ought  to  be 
eliminated,  as  completely  as  is  possible,  and  the  "mired- 
down"  pupils  pushed  on  into  work  which  they  can  do.  The 
big  dropping-off  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  grade  ought  also 
to  give  way  to  a  rather  steady  curve  onward  to  the  end  of 
the  ninth  grade. 

To  do  this  means  that  a  community  must  realize  both  its 
educational  responsibilities  and  its  educational  opportunities, 


370 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


and  must  provide  the  types  of  schools,  the  differentiations 
in  instruction,  and  the  type  of  supervision,  which  will  make 

such  a  desirable  con- 
dition possible.  Flex- 
ible promotional 
schemes,  differenti- 
ated courses  of  study 
and  schools,  good 
health  supervision 
and  instruction,  vo- 
cational guidance  of 
youth,  and  the  sup- 
port of  a  well-man- 
aged attendance  de- 
partment, are  all 
means  to  this  end. 
Every  child  in  the 
community  should 
be  given  education 
long  enough  and  ad- 
vanced enough  to 
prepare  him  or  her 
for  personal  useful- 
ness and  eflaciency 
in  life,  and  of  a  type 
that  will  prepare  him 
or  her  to  fit  into  the 
political,  industrial, 
social,  or  domestic 
life  of  which  he  or 
she  will  ultimately 
form  a  unit. 
The  whole  aim  and 
purpose  of  an  attendance  department  in  a  city  school  sys- 


PiO.  32.    SHOWING  DECLINE  IN  ATTENDANCE 
AFTER  THE  SIXTH   GRADE 

(From  the  Portland,  Oregon,  School  Survey  Report.) 

The  Oregon  laws  require  attendance  at  school  until 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  year  of  age.  The  retardation 
of  pupils  here  was  such  that  many  reached  this  age 
while  in  the  sixth  grade.  Tlie  dotted  line  indicates  the 
curve  of  possible  attendance  through  the  ninth  school 
year. 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     371 

tern,  and  of  the  special  classes  and  schools  which  should  go 
along  with  it,  is  that  it  should  form  another  means  by  which 
communities  may  be  enabled  to  attain  to  this  desirable  goal 
for  their  children.  The  city  school  system  of  to-day,  which 
enrolls  but  fifty  to  sixty  per  cent  of  a  reported  school  census, 
and  fails  to  hold  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  of  the  enrollment 
for  haK  of  the  school  year,  cannot  be  rated  as  a  very  efficient 
community  agency. ^  To  change  such  a  condition  will  in- 
volve the  expenditure  of  more  money  for  education,  but  it 
is  probable  that,  in  time,  the  increased  money  will  be  re- 
turned to  the  city  in  the  increased  civic  interest  and  pro- 
ductive capacity  of  its  citizens,  and  in  the  decreased  poverty, 
criminality,  and  prostitution  found  among  the  members  of 
its  population. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  The  School  Survey  of  the  San  Francisco  schools,  made  by  the  local 
branch  of  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae  in  1914  (p.  51)  showed 
that  22.9  per  cent  of  all  children  in  the  elementary-  and  high-school 
grades  were  in  the  first  grade,  48.3  per  cent  in  the  first  three  grades, 
and  that  80  per  cent  were  in  the  first  six  grades.  Would  this  attend- 
ance seem  to  indicate  that  this  is  an  efficiently  organized  school  sys- 
tem? 

2.  To  what  extent  and  in  what  communities  is  the  compulsory-attend- 
ance law  of  your  State  enforced?  What  steps  should  be  taken  to 
secure  a  better  enforcement? 

3.  What  relation  do  private  and  parochial  schools  in  your  State  bear  to 
the  state  schools  in  the  matter  of  enforcing  attendance  and  making 
reports?  What  relations  should  exist? 

4.  Are  there  any  state  requirements  as  to  the  quality  or  character  of 
instruction  which  must  be  maintained  in  non-state  schools  to  enable 

1  "Only  one  half  of  the  children  who  enter  the  city  elementary  schools 
remain  to  the  final  elementary-school  grade,  and  only  one  in  ten  reaches  the 
final  year  of  the  high  school.  On  the  average,  ten  per  cent  of  the  children 
have  left  school  by  the  time  they  are  thirteen,  forty  per  cent  by  fourteen, 
seventy  per  cent  by  fifteen,  and  eighty-five  per  cent  by  sixteen.  On  the 
average  the  schools  carry  their  pupils  as  far  as  the  fifth  grade,  but  in  some 
cities  great  numbers  leave  before  that  grade."  (L.  P.  Ayres,  Laggards  in 
the  Schools.) 


372  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

them  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  compulsory-attendance  law? 
If  not,  would  some  state  approval  be  justified? 

5.  Why  is  it  that  the  years  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  can  be  more  profit- 
ably spent  at  school  than  at  work? 

6.  Should  a  state  school-fund  apportionment  law  place  a  money  premium 
on  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory-attendance  law?  How  may  this 
be  done? 

7.  Should  labor  permits  be  issued  by  the  school  department  of  attend- 
ance exclusively?  Why? 

8.  Some  of  our  cities  use  the  police  force  for  attendance  oflBcers.  Is  this 
desirable,  or  not?  Why? 

9.  Would  the  class  of  children  brought  into  the  schools  by  the  first  real 
enforcement  of  a  compulsory-attendance  law  be  a  more  difficult  class 
to  deal  with  than  would  be  found  after  a  dozen  years  of  close  enforce- 
ment? Why? 

10.  A  city  of  15,000  inhabitants  has  a  population  of  school  age  of  3500. 
Of  these  60  per  cent  are  enrolled  in  the  schools  during  the  year,  and 
the  average  daily  attendance  for  the  year  is  75  per  cent  of  the  enroll- 
ment. The  term  is  200  days,  and  the  state  grant  of  money  includes  a 
grant  of  3  cents  per  pupil  per  day  of  actual  attendance. 

An  attendance  officer  is  now  employed,  at  $50  a  month  for  twelve 
months,  the  two  summer  months  to  be  spent  in  re-checking  the  school 
census.  By  his  presence  and  work  the  enrollment  is  now  increased  to 
65  per  cent  of  the  census,  and  the  attendance  to  80  per  cent  of  the 
enrollment.  About  what  percentage  of  his  salary  and  office  expenses 
has  he  earned?  How  many  children  has  he  put  into  the  schools? 
What  effect  will  this  work  have  on  the  cost  of  education  in  the  city? 

11.  In  what  way  has  the  increase  of  immigration  made  compulsory  school 
attendance  more  necessary  with  us? 

12.  In  what  ways  has  the  break-down  of  the  old  apprentice  system  tended 
to  complicate  the  educational  problem? 

13.  In  what  ways  has  the  mere  growth  of  the  modern  city  uicreased  the 
school's  responsibility  for  (a)  the  physical,  (6)  the  ethical,  and  (c)  the 
economic  welfare  of  the  child,  in  addition  to  the  former  (d)  intellec- 
tual welfare? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT  ^ 

1.  What  plan  for  checking-up  pupils  and  enforcing  attendance  is  used 
in  the  city  in  your  State  which  best  enforces  the  compulsor^'-attend- 
ance  law?  Who  issues  the  child-labor  permits,  and  how  are  they 
issued? 

2.  Outline  the  type  of  school  census  returns  you  would  think  desirable 
for  a  residential  city  of  25,000  inhabitants,  and  for  a  manufacturing 
and  commercial  city  of  250,000  inhabitants. 

3.  Show  what  changes  in  the  state  census  forms  used  in  your  State  are 


THE  ATTENDANCE  DEPARTMENT     S73 

necessary  to  form  a  basis  for  an  adequate  enforcement  of  the  com- 
pulsory-attendance law. 
4.  What  type  of  parochial  schools  exist  in  your  State?    How  are  they 
conducted?    What  is  the  nature  of  the  instruction?    How  effective  is 
their  work,  and  about  what  is  their  maintenance  cost? 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Adams,  G.  S.    "Recent  Progress  in  Training  Delinquent  Children";  in 
Report  of  the  U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1913,  vol.  i,  pp.  481-97. 
On  the  work  of  juvenile  courts,  probation  officers,  detention  homes,  and  the  rela" 
tion  of  feeble-mindedness  to  delinquency. 

Butte,  Montana.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System  of  Butte.    (1914.) 
Chapter  X,  on  census,  records,  and  reports,  contains  an  excellent  discussion  of  how 
to  take  records  and  use  school  census  data.    Contains  seven  of  the  best  approved 
forms  for  city  use. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.    State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization    257  pp. 
Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1914. 

Title  VI,  on  the  "  Oversight  of  the  State,"  outlines  in  legal  form  the  plan  for  taking 
a  continuing  school  census,  and  the  means  provided  for  enforcing  the  compulsory- 
attendance  and  child-labor  laws  in  the  hypothetical  State  of  Osceola.  The  plans  out- 
lined represent  the  best  of  American  city  procedure. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.   The  Administration  of  Public  Education  in 
the  United  States,  2d  ed.,  614  pp.,  1912.    Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 
Chapter  XXVII,  on  compulsory-education  and  child-labor  legislation,  is  a  good 
general  discussion  from  the  standpoint  of  the  State. 

Giddings,  F.  H.   "The  Social  and  Legal  Aspect  of  Compulsory  Education 
and  Child  Labor";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association, 
1905,  pp.  111-13. 
Shall  the  State  pay  needy  parents  for  keeping  their  children  in  school? 
Haney,  J.  D.    Registration  of  City  School  Children.    156  pp.    Trs,  Col. 
Contribs.  to  Educ,  no.  30.  New  York,  1910. 
A  study  of  the  school  census,  comparing  methods  in  European  and  American  cities. 
Klapper,  Paul.    "  The  Bureau  of  Attendance  and  Child  Welfare  of  the 
New  York  City  Public  School  System  ";  Educational  Review,  vol.  50, 
pp.  369-91.    (November,  1915.) 

Describes  the  work  done,  in  some  detail,  and  indicates  lines  for  future  expansion. 
Martin,  G.  H.    "Child  Labor  and  Compulsory  Education,  —  the  School 
Aspect";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1905,  pp. 
103-111. 
The  rights  of  the  child  in  the  matter. 
Nudd,  H.  W.   A  Description  of  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory  Education  of  the 
City  of  Philadelphia.  62  pp.,  33  forms.  Publication  of  the  Educational 
Association,  New  York,  1913. 

Describes  the  organization  and  administration  of  the  Bureau;  how  the  school 
census  is  maintained;  how  attendance  is  enforced:  how  employment  certificates  are 
issued;  and  how  results  are  tabulated  and  recorded.  An  important  document. 


374  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

Chapter  XV,  on  "Census  and  Attendance,"  describes  the  work  done  in  a  city  of 
this  size,  and  the  defects  in  the  records  and  plan. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.  324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  IX  contains  much  interesting  data  relating  to  backward  and  subnormal 
children,  and  methods  of  handling  such. 

Shaw,  A.  M.  "A  Lesson  for  the  Public  Schools";  in  World's  Work  for 
March,  1906. 

Tells  significant  story  of  what  parental  schools  have  done  in  Boston  and  Chicago. 
Snedden,  D.  "Attendance,  Compulsory";  in  Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Edu- 
cation, vol.  II,  pp.  285-98. 

A  good  article.  Digests  practices  in  other  countries,  and  in  the  dififerent  American 
States. 

Snedden,  D  "The  Public  School  and  Juvenile  Delinquency";  in  Educa- 
tional Review,  vol.  33,  pp.  374-85.    (April,  1907.) 

An  excellent  article  on  the  handling  of  juvenile  delinquents,  and  the  place  and  work 
of  the  public  schools  in  the  process. 

Woodward,  C.  M.  "When  and  Why  Pupils  leave  School;  How  to  Promote 
Attendance  in  the  Higher  Grades";  in  Report  of  the  U.S.  Commissioner 
of  Education,  1899-1900,  vol.  ii,  pp.  1364-74. 

A  very  interesting  article  on  the  reasons  for  the  heavy  elimination  at  St,  Louis, 
and  the  changes  and  additions  necessary  to  retain  pupils  better.  While  these  have  since 
been  made  at  St.  Louis,  with  good  results,  the  study  offers  a  good  model  for  use 
elsewhere. 

Woodward,  C.  M.  Compulsory  School  Attendance.  137  pp.  Bulletin  no.  2» 
1914,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 

Contains  five  articles  on  compulsory-attendance  laws  in  the  United  States,  in 
foreign  countries,  compulsory  education  in  Germany,  in  the  South,  and  the  com-, 
pulsory-attendance  and  child-labor  laws  of  Ohio  and  Massachusetts.  Good  bibli- 
ography. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

BUSINESS  AND  CLERICAL  DEPARTMENT 

Department  organization.  A  business  and  clerical  de- 
partment, of  some  form  and  scope,  is  an  absolutely  neces- 
sary part  of  the  organization  of  every  city  school  system  of 
any  size.  In  the  small  city  school  systems  the  entire  or- 
ganization may  consist  of  only  an  office  bookkeeper  and 
clerk,  who  keeps  the  books  of  the  school  district,  under  the 
direction  of  the  superintendent,  attends  to  part  of  the  cor- 
respondence, issues  orders  for  the  necessary  school  supplies, 
and  assists  the  superintendent  in  checking  over  and  approv- 
ing bUls  for  presentation  to  the  board  of  education.  This 
represents  the  simplest  form  of  organization,  and  is  shown 
in  Figure  12. 

As  the  city  grows  a  regular  office  and  office  force  will 
need  to  be  organized,  the  force  consisting  of  a  clerk  to  the 
board  or  a  business  manager,  with  stenographer  and  book- 
keeper, and  with  oversight  of  all  business  and  purely  cleri- 
cal matters  of  the  city  school  district.  The  work  of  the 
school  janitors,  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  school 
supplies,  the  repair  of  schoolhouses,  and  the  upkeep  of 
school  grounds,  naturally  fall  under  the  control  of  this  offi- 
cer, thus  leaving  the  superintendent  of  schools  free  to  attend 
to  the  supervision  of  instruction  and  the  larger  questions  of 
policy  and  procedure.  This  condition  is  shown  in  Figure 
13. 

As  the  city  grows  larger  and  larger,  or  as  we  pass  to  cities 
of  a  larger  group,  a  still  more  highly  organized  and  special- 
ized form  of  business  and  clerical  department  will  be  needed, 


376  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   ADMINISTRATION 

under  the  charge  of  a  business  manager,  with  a  secretary, 
bookkeepers,  purchasing  agent,  storekeepers,  clerks,  stenog- 
raphers, etc.  This  form  of  organization  is  shown  in  Figure 
14.  The  work  here  is  much  more  specialized  than  in  the 
case  of  the  medium-sized  city  shown  in  Figure  13,  by  rea- 
son of  the  subdivision  of  the  business  and  property  con- 
trol into  two  coordinate  departments,  one  under  a  business 
manager  and  one  under  a  superintendent  of  school  proper- 
ties, the  two  working  in  close  cooperation  with  each  other 
and  with  the  superintendent  of  schools  as  the  head  of  all 
departments. 

Work  of  such  a  department.  To  the  business  manager  in 
our  larger  cities  is  now  entrusted  most  of  the  work  formerly 
attempted  by  the  building,  supply,  repair,  grounds,  insur- 
ance, finance,  and  judiciary  committees  of  the  board  of 
education.  The  business  manager,  under  substantial  bonds 
and  his  work  subject  to  an  annual  audit  by  certified  ac- 
countants, now  acts,  under  rather  close  direction  of  the 
board  of  education,  as  its  financial  agent.  He  keeps  a  com- 
plete set  of  books,  covering  all  financial  transactions  of  the 
school  department,  and  an  itemized  and  classified  record 
of  all  income,  expenditures,  and  appropriations.  He  ap- 
proves all  contracts,  and  all  bills  for  materials  or  services, 
and  draws  all  warrants  on  the  treasurer  of  the  board  for  sala- 
ries, services,  materials,  work  completed,  and  other  items. 
He  is  the  custodian  of  all  securities,  insurance  policies,  con- 
tracts, or  legal  papers  of  the  board,  and  also  acts  as  the  offi- 
cial secretary  of  the  board  and  its  committees.  Where  no 
property  department  has  been  organized,  he  also  handles 
the  purchase  and  distribution  of  all  school  supplies,  em- 
ploys and  oversees  the  janitors,  and  the  repair  and  engineer- 
ing forces  temporarily  or  permanently  employed,  oversees 
the  construction  and  repair  of  school  buildings,  and  looks 
after  deeds,  insurance,  and  any  legal  matters  relating  to  the 


BUSINESS  AND  CLERICAL  DEPARTMENT      377 

real  estate  or  the  personal  property  of  the  school  depart- 
ment. In  all  matters  involving  legal  procedure  he  may  con- 
sult with  the  attorney  retained  by  the  school  board  as  the 
legal  adviser  of  itself  and  the  officers  of  the  school  depart- 
ment. The  employment  and  dismissal  of  janitors,  mechan- 
ics, day  laborers,  clerks,  and  other  similar  employees  in  his 
department  naturally  rests  with  him. 

Purpose  of  the  department.  The  purpose  of  the  depart- 
ment is  the  organization  of  the  business  work  connected 
with  the  schools  along  good  business  lines.  The  board  of 
education  here,  as  in  the  educational  work,  gives  up  the 
attempt  to  handle  the  details  of  all  such  matters  them- 
selves, and  appoints  a  business  manager  to  look  after  the 
business  and  clerical  affairs  of  the  school  department,  and 
along  lines  that  are  businesslike  and  economical  of  both 
time  and  money.  As  in  the  educational  work,  also,  the  board 
of  education  retires,  as  it  should,  from  the  details  of  man- 
agement, acts  as  a  board  of  directors  for  a  large  business 
corporation  would  act,  approves  policies  and  projects,  sets 
limits  to  expenditures,  and  holds  the  business  manager  ac- 
countable if  anything  goes  wrong  in  his  department.  ^  The 
position  calls  for  a  man  of  good  business  ability,  but  also 
for  a  man  who  has  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  the 
needs  and  purposes  of  public  education.  ^    He  is  there  and 

*  "The  principles  of  good  corporation  organization  need  to  be  applied  to 
educational  affairs,  and  boards  of  school  directors  need  to  assume  more 
the  position  of  boards  of  directors  for  a  large  corporation,  giving  to  their 
executive  officers  the  authority  which  corporation  directors  give  to  their 
presidents  and  superintendents.  The  proper  functions  of  the  board  of 
directors  are  to  supply  funds,  to  supervise  expenditure,  and  to  determine 
what  additions  to  the  plant  or  extensions  of  the  business  are  to  be  under- 
taken. So  long  as  the  business  prospers  the  board  should  leave  the  details 
of  employment  and  management  to  the  president  and  heads  of  departments; 
when  the  business  ceases  to  prosper  they  should  either  change  their  busi- 
ness methods,  or  change  their  executive  heads."  {Portland  School  Survey 
Report,  chap,  ii.) 

2  The  best  business  manager  is  often  a  school  man  who  has  marked 


S78  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

his  department  exists  not  only  to  relieve  the  board  of  edu- 
cation of  care  and  responsibility  in  matters  of  business  de- 
tail, and  to  secure  a  better  administration  of  the  school  busi- 
ness of  the  city,  but  also  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  the 
schools. 

Misdirection  of  the  business  department.  It  is  at  this 
point  that  some  of  our  business  managers  in  the  past  have 
made  trouble.  A  few,  here  and  there,  have  acted  almost  as 
though  they  thought  that  the  balance  of  the  school  system 
existed  to  afford  business  for  their  office  to  handle,  and  they 
have  made  their  office,  instead  of  that  of  the  superintendent 
of  schools,  the  central  feature  in  the  school  system.  The 
superintendent,  principals,  and  teachers  have  had  to  con- 
sider the  business  office  first  and  the  superintendent's  office 
afterward,  and  in  matters  over  which  the  business  office 
ought  to  have  little  or  no  control. 

In  city  A,  for  example,  the  business  manager,  given 
control  over  the  school  janitors  to  insure  cleanliness  and 
discipline,  gradually  extended  his  authority  to  that  of 
a  complete  control  of  the  use  of  the  school-buildings  out- 
side of  the  regular  school  hours.  As  a  result,  if  a  principal 
desired  to  hold  a  parents'  meeting  in  the  evening  at  his 
school,  if  a  manual-training  teacher  desired  to  give  some 
extra  instruction  to  pupils  or  teachers  on  Saturday  morning, 
or  if  the  superintendent  of  schools  desired  to  hold  a  meet- 
ing of  the  teachers  at  the  high-school  assembly  room,  each 
had  first  to  secure  permission  from  the  business  manager 
before  the  janitors  could  permit  their  use  of  the  building, 
business  sense.  By  the  very  nature  of  the  work  to  be  done  it  is  easier  to 
develop  business  sense  in  a  good  school  man  than  educational  sense  in  a 
business  man.  It  is  important  that  the  business  manager,  whether  he  be 
merely  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  superintendent  in  a  small  school  system 
or  the  head  of  an  important  department  in  a  large  school  system,  be  kept 
close  to  the  educational  management  and  be  made  to  feel  that  he  is  a  part 
of  the  educational  organization.  This  is  sometimes  difficult  to  do  with  the 
man  whose  training  has  been  wholly  on  the  business  side. 


BUSINESS  AND  CLERICAL  DEPARTMENT      379 

In  city  B,  the  business  manager,  acting  under  his  au- 
thority to  buy  school  supplies,  determined  what  and  how 
jiuch  the  schools  needed.  In  this  city,  for  example,  the  com- 
position paper  supplied  one  year  was  both  very  poor  in 
quality  and  deficient  in  quantity,  and  all  written  work  of  the 
pupils  was  slow  in  speed  and  slovenly  in  looks.  This  was 
because  the  business  manager,  thinking  that  he  knew  more 
about  the  matter  than  the  superintendent  of  schools,  ignored 
the  request  of  the  latter  for  a  good  quality  of  paper,  and 
supplied  a  paper  three  cents  per  pound  cheaper  and  held 
down  requisitions  for  supplies.  He  probably  saved  two 
hundred  dollars  to  the  school  system,  but  at  the  expense 
of  slovenly  written  work,  reduced  speed  in  writing,  and  the 
vexation  of  the  teaching  force. 

In  city  C,  the  business  manager  bought  everything  by 
competitive  bidding.  If  two  hundred  supplemental  third 
readers,  or  knives  or  scissors  of  a  certain  kind  for  certain 
forms  of  manual-arts  work  were  asked  for,  and  he  could  get 
a  different  third  reader  or  another  kind  of  knife  or  scissors 
for  a  few  cents  less  each,  he  purchased  the  cheaper  quality 
and  the  schools  were  forced  to  accept  what  he  supplied. 

In  city  D,  the  business  manager  is  noted  for  close  econ- 
omy in  those  things  requisitioned  for  by  the  instruction 
department,  and  for  great  liberality  —  one  might  even  say 
waste  —  in  those  matters  for  which  his  department  con- 
trols the  expenditures.  The  school  plant  and  grounds  are 
kept  in  a  high  state  of  perfection,  but  teachers'  salaries  are 
moderate,  and  library  and  teaching  equipment  are  low.^ 

Purpose  and  position  of  such  departments.  All  such 
cases  are  cases  of  misdirected  energy  and  zeal.  Any  business 
department  connected  with  any  educational  corporation 
exists  primarily  to  serve.  The  school  plant  does  not  belong 

1  These  represent  real  cases,  though  it  is  perhaps  best  not  to  name  the 
cities. 


380  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

to  the  business  department,  but,  after  it  is  once  constructed, 
to  the  educational  department;  and  such  relations  as  the 
business  department  maintains  to  the  school  plant,  such 
as  cleaning,  heating,  and  repairs,  are  only  for  the  purpose  of 
making  the  plant  more  useful  to  the  educational  depart- 
ment. In  the  matter  of  the  use  of  the  buildings  the  educa- 
tional, and  not  the  business  department,  should  control. 

Even  in  the  matter  of  repairs  and  changes,  the  business 
department  should  follow  the  wishes  of  the  educational 
department  rather  than  act  independently,  and  with  a 
view  to  making  the  largest  use  of  the  money  available  for 
such  purposes.  Still  more,  the  amount  of  money  spent  on 
repairs  and  changes  and  upkeep  should  be  as  small  as  is 
possible,  consistent  with  proper  maintenance,  in  order  that 
as  large  a  percentage  of  the  total  school  budget  as  is  possible 
may  be  spent  on  the  actual  work  of  instruction,  to  facili- 
tate which  is  the  prime  piu'pose  for  which  all  else  exists. 
In  the  matter  of  supplies,  all  supplies  which  relate  to  the 
work  of  instruction  should,  within  the  limits  of  the  budget, 
be  as  requested  by  the  educational  department. 

If  the  superintendent  of  schools  is  worthy  of  his  place,  he 
will  know  as  much  or  more  about  those  needs  of  the  schools 
which  must  pass  through  the  business  department  as  does 
the  business  manager,  and  the  importance  of  making  the 
superintendent  the  executive  head  of  the  entire  school  sys- 
tem, with  coordinating  power  over  all  departments,  sub- 
ject always  to  appeal  to  the  board  in  case  of  fundamental 
disagreement,  will  be  apparent.  The  superintendent,  more 
than  any  one  else  connected  with  the  school  system,  is 
interested  in  and  responsible  for  the  welfare  and  the  success 
of  the  schools  in  the  community,  and  the  executive  head 
of  every  department  in  the  school  system  should  be  under 
his  ultimate  authority  and  control. 

In  most  matters,  of  course,  a  superintendent  fit  for  his 


BUSINESS  AND  CLERICAL  DEPARTMENT      381 

position  will  allow  department  heads  large  liberty  of  ac- 
tion, but  in  matters  where  the  advice  of  the  superintendent 
should  prevail  he  should  be  given  authority  to  see  that  it 
does  so.  It  will  be  conducive  to  the  peace  and  harmony 
and  progress  of  the  schools  if  it  is  clearly  stated  in  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  board  that  this  is  so.^  For  this 
reason  the  business  department  has  been  placed  where  it  is 
in  each  of  the  drawings  (Figures  1£,  13,  and  14)  showing 
proper  relationships.  Figure  15  shows  a  school  organization 
where  the  business  department  has  outrun  all  other  depart- 
ments in  the  school  system,  the  board  and  its  committees 
working  largely  through  this  department,  and  in  many 
matters  the  business  manager  (school  clerk)  has  become 
the  head  of  the  school  system. 

Intelligent  expenditures.  It  is  not  the  work  of  a  busi- 
ness department  to  effect  economies  at  the  expense  of  edu- 
cational efficiency.  The  work  of  public  education  is  not 
primarily  a  process  of  saving,  but  rather  one  of  spend- 
ing intelligently  as  much  money  as  a  community  can  af- 
ford to  spend  for  schools.^  To  obtain  the  best  results,  each 

1  Boards  of  education  usually  have  as  much  difficulty  in  this  matter  as 
do  business  managers,  —  often  more.  This  is  perhaps  only  natural,  as  the 
business  work  represents  the  part  of  school  administration  which  the  board 
members  are  most  capable  of  understanding.  They  can  understand  the 
business  manager's  point  of  view  often  better  than  that  of  the  superin- 
tendent. The  business  organization  is  definite,  follows  well-established 
forms,  and  deals  with  expenditures  and  economies,  while  the  educational 
organization  is  less  definite  and  the  economies  and  expenses  it  desires  are 
often  quite  different  from  those  which  appeal  to  the  layman. 
.  2  An  important  place  where  plant  expenses  might  be  reduced  and  money 
saved  for  educational  purposes  lies  in  utilizing  student  interest  and  labor. 
Such  a  plan  requires  a  close  cooperation  between  the  business  and  educa- 
tional ends.  The  work  at  Gary,  Indiana,  is  an  excellent  example  of  this, 
the  pupils  there  having  made  much  of  the  equipment  in  use.  (See  Burris's 
description,  in  Bulletin  no.  18,  1914,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education.)  Apother 
excellent  example  is  the  work  of  the  pupils  in  the  schools  of  Boise,  Idaho, 
as  described  by  Superintendent  Meek,  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education 
Association,  1913,  pp.  172-78. 


882  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

dollar  should  be  spent  intelligently.  Economies  in  one  place 
are  effected  in  order  that  the  expenses  in  other  places 
may  be  larger.  The  only  way  to  make  better  schools  is  to 
spend  more  money,  in  a  more  intelligent  way.  There  is  no 
other  way. 

The  savings  which  will  be  effected  by  centralized  business 
control  will  be  chiefly  by  eliminating  the  waste  occasioned 
by  irresponsible  committee  management/  with  its  unintelli- 
gent control  of  school  funds;  by  the  purchase  of  materials 
and  supplies  at  better  figures;  by  the  close  supervision  of 
contracts,  to  see  that  what  is  called  for  is  obtained;  by  the 
holding  to  responsibility  of  all  who  have  dealings  with  the 
school  department;  and  by  keeping  always  at  hand,  for  ref- 
erence and  for  comparative  study,  a  carefully  itemized  and 
classified  statement  of  income  and  expenditures.  This  last 
phase  of  the  work  of  a  business  department  will  be  referred 
to  again  in  Chapter  XXVI. 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Look  up  and  report  upon  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  business 
manager,  or  oJEcial  with  equivalent  title,  in  a  few  cities  having  such 
an  officer. 

2.  Draw  up  a  plan  for  organizing  the  business  work  in  (a)  a  city  of  20,000 
inhabitants;  (6)  one  of  75,000  inhabitants;  and  (c)  in  a  city  of  250,000 
inhabitants  or  more. 

3.  Look  up  the  methods  used  in  handling  the  purchase  and  distribution 
of  supplies  in  some  city  in  your  vicinity. 

4.  What  forms  are  usually  followed  in  the  ordering  of  supplies  and  the 
auditing  and  payment  of  bills  for  the  same? 

ft.  Look  up  a  few  city  systems  of  comparable  size  and  calculate  what 
percentage  of  the  total  expenditures  in  each  goes  for  (a)  general 
control;  (b)  instruction;  (c)  operation  of  plant;  (d)  maintenance  of 
plant;  and  (e)  libraries,  health  work,  playgrounds,  and  other  un- 
classified items,  but  not  including  outlays  for  new  plant  or  payment 
on  debt. 

^  In  Oakland,  California,  the  purchasing  department  did  a  business 
of  $4-64,895.53  in  1914-15,  at  a  cost  of  but  $4080,  and  at  a  saving  of 
from  $30,000  to  $40,000  over  methods  formerly  in  use. 


BUSINESS  AND  CLERICAL  DEPARTMENT       383 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Chancellor,  W.  E.    Our  City  Schools ;  Their  Direction  and  Management. 
338  pp.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1908. 

Chapter  III,  on  the  business  officers  and  the  board,  is  a  good  discussion  of  business 
management  in  a  large  city  school  system. 

Chicago,  Illinois.  Report  of  the  Educational  Commission.   (1898.) 

Article  II,  on  the  business  management  of  the  board  of  education,  is  good  on  the 
functions  of  such  a  department. 

Monroe,  Paul.   Cyclopedia  of  Education.  See  "Business  Management  and 
Manager,"  vol.  i,  pp.  474-75. 
A  short  article  on  the  work  of  this  office. 
Moore,  E.  C.  How  New  York  City  administers  its  Schools.  311  pp.  World 
Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1913. 

Contains  two  chapters  on  buildings  and  supplies  (Chapters  XV  and  XVI),  which 
cover  a  portion  of  the  work  of  a  business  department. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.   (1914.) 
441  pp.    Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

Chapter  II,  on  the  administrative  organization,  describes  the  business  and  educa- 
tional organization  in  this  city,  and  gives  a  number  of  concrete  examples  of  the  results 
of  improper  organization. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.    Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.    324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  11,  on  the  organization  of  the  school  system,  deals  with  the  business  as 
w«ll  as  the  educational  organization. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  SCHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT 

The  superintendent  of  school  properties.  This  depart- 
ment, naturally,  is  found  only  in  the  larger  cities,  as  only 
in  cities  of  some  size  will  there  be  sufficient  work  on  the 
properties  of  the  school  department  to  warrant  the  employ- 
ment of  a  special  staff  and  the  creation  of  a  special  depart- 
ment to  care  for  it.  In  medium-sized  cities  the  business 
manager  or  some  similar  official,  or  an  architect  on  tempo- 
rary employment,  working  in  conjunction  with  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  must  look  after  such  work.  In  the  smaller 
cities  the  superintendent  of  schools,  together  with  his  busi- 
ness clerk  and  one  or  more  board  committees,  usually 
handle  all  work  done  in  connection  with  the  repair  and  up- 
keep of  the  school  plant,  an  architect  being  employed  only 
for  the  construction  of  new  buildings  which  are  to  be  erected. 
The  work  is  interesting,  and  sometimes  a  school  superin- 
tendent becomes  so  fascinated  with  such  work  that  he  vir- 
tually becomes  a  building  superintendent  and  almost  forgets 
that  there  is  more  important  educational  work  to  be  done. 

The  superintendent  of  properties,  or  superintendent  of 
buildings  as  he  is  frequently  designated,  represents  an  im- 
portant recent  development  in  city  educational  service. 
The  plan  has  usually  been  to  select  some  young  man  who 
has  had  good  engineering  training,  and  who  has  good  judg- 
ment, some  imagination,  and  good  executive  capacity,  and 
then  to  put  him  in  charge  of  the  construction,  alteration, 
and  upkeep  of  the  school  plant.  Under  his  direction  will  be 
the  architectural,  engineering,  and  mechanical  forces  em- 


SCHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT  385 

ployed,  and  he  will  also  supervise  the  carrying  out  of  all 
contracts  for  yard  work,  the  construction  and  repair  of 
buildings,  etc.  The  heating,  cleaning,  and  fumigation  of  the 
buildings  will  also  be  placed  under  his  direction,  and  hence 
to  him  should  also  be  given  power  to  employ,  train,  super- 
vise, and  dismiss  all  school  janitors,  engineers,  mechanics, 
day-laborers,  etc.,  employed  on  work  which  is  under  hi5 
control. 

Purpose  and  place  of  this  department.  The  purpose  of 
this  department  is  to  centralize,  under  one  responsible  and 
scientifically  trained  head,  all  work  connected  with  the 
creation  and  maintenance  of  the  school  plant.  Naturally, 
such  a  department  head  must  work  in  close  cooperation 
with  the  superintendent  of  schools,  the  health  director,  the 
superintendent  of  playgrounds,  and  the  business  manager, 
and  in  accordance  with  plans  and  estimates  approved  by 
the  board  of  education.  Instead  of  members  of  the  board 
of  education  attempting  to  prepare  plans  for  school  build- 
ings, and  instead  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  being  com- 
pelled to  devote  much  of  his  time  to  building  construction 
and  repair,  and  often  to  quarrel  almost  continuously  with 
contractors  to  secure  honest  work,  the  board  of  education 
now  turns  all  such  expert  work  over  to  an  expert  to  handle, 
reserving  to  itself  only  the  appointment  of  the  expert,  the 
appropriation  of  the  necessary  funds  for  each  constructional 
undertaking  recommended  by  him  and  by  the  superintend- 
ent of  schools,  the  formal  approval  of  the  plans,  and  the 
formal  awarding  of  the  contracts.  The  board  also  retires 
from  the  employment  of  school  janitors,  mechanics,  and 
workmen,  making  possible  the  transformation  of  janitor 
work  from  a  political  job  to  a  trained  and  efl&cient  service. 
The  superintendent  of  schools,  as  the  coordinating  head 
of  all  departments,  naturally  should  approve  all  large  pro- 
posals and  plans  of  the  head  of  the  property  department. 


386  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  recourse  in  the  case  of  a  fundamental  disagreement  be- 
ing the  submission  of  the  matter  to  the  board.  As  in  the  case 
of  the  business  manager,  though,  a  superintendent  of  schools 
will  leave  the  superintendent  of  properties  large  liberty  in 
all  matters  of  detail;  the  important  point  to  be  looked  after 
being  that  constructional  undertakings  are  along  good  edu- 
cational lines. 

In  all  smaller  cities  no  such  specialization  of  executive 
work  can  be  provided  for,  and  in  such  places  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  usually  in  conjunction  with  local  archi- 
tects and  builders  and  committees  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion, must  help  plan  and  oversee  the  work. 

Responsibility  of  the  superintendent  of  schools.  Whoever 
does  this  work,  though,  must,  at  least  in  a  general  way,  over- 
see what  is  being  done.  In  a  way  also  he  must  direct  the 
efforts  of  those  who  are  doing  it.  The  thousands  of  con- 
structional blunders  which  are  in  use  as  school  buildings 
to-day  in  our  cities  and  towns  show  the  need  of  more  at- 
tention to  the  scientific  details  of  schoolhouse  planning 
than  has  been  given  to  the  work  by  our  superintendents  in 
the  past.  To  direct  properly  the  efforts  of  those  who  are 
doing  the  work  requires  that  the  superintendent  of  schools, 
as  well  as  the  person  drawing  the  plans,  should  be  familiar 
with  good  hygienic  standards,  with  the  best  practices  in 
schoolhouse  construction  elsewhere,  and  also  be  somewhat 
familiar  with  tendencies  and  probable  future  needs  in 
public  education.  On  the  financial  side,  maintenance  costs 
as  well  as  first  costs,  and  methods  of  paying  for  the  new 
equipment,  should  both  be  considered.  These  points,  which 
are  generally  applicable  to  all  cities,  will  be  touched  on 
very  briefly  here. 

A  new  type  of  building  needed.  The  time  has  come, 
everywhere,  when  the  building  of  eight-room  or  twelve- 
room  boxes,  with  windows  regularly  punctured  in  all  of  the 


SCHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT  387 

outside  walls,  and  with  the  only  variation  from  typical 
classrooms  being  an  oflSice  for  the  principal,  usually  on  the 
second  floor  over  the  entrance  hall,  should  stop.  Such  build- 
ings do  not  meet  the  needs  of  the  present  in  public  educa- 
tion, and  will  meet  the  needs  of  the  future  still  less.  With 
the  rapid  changes  in  the  character  of  public  education,  the 
need  for  differentiations  in  school  work,  and  the  tendency 
of  public  education  to  undertake  new  educational  and  com- 
munity services,  there  is  need  to-day  for  the  construction 
in  our  cities  of  a  new  type  of  school  building.  Should  the 
Gary  idea  or  some  modification  of  it  make  important  head- 
way, most  of  our  present  school  buildings  would  have  to 
be  reconstructed  or  entirely  replaced. 

To  secure  such  buildings  both  the  superintendent  and  the 
architect  must  be  reasonably  familiar  with  the  best  of  our 
theory  and  practice  in  the  field  of  schoolhouse  construc- 
tion and  sanitation.  If  the  architect  is  not,  then  the  duty 
devolves  on  the  superintendent  of  seeing  that  he  becomes 
acquainted  with  the  main  facts  of  such  theory,  and  of  in- 
sisting upon  the  incorporation  of  such  in  his  plans.  This 
involves  a  reasonably  satisfactory  knowledge  of  the  scien- 
tific principles  ^  which  should  control  with  reference  to :  — 

1.  The  location  and  orientation  of  school  buildings. 

2.  The  material  to  be  used  in  construction. 

3.  Lighting  arrangements. 

4.  Heating  and  ventilation. 

5.  Sanitary  arrangements  and  equipment. 

6.  Schoolhouse  conveniences  and  equipment. 

7.  Proper  apportionment  of  space  to  different  educational  needs. 

8.  Proper  playground  and  yard  space. 

The  new  Pittsburg  type  of  building.  The  city  of  Pitts- 
burg offers  one  of  the  best  examples  of  the  application  of 

^  No  attempt  will  be  made  to  state  what  these  principles  and  standards 
are.  For  this  the  student  must  consult  some  standard  work  on  schoolhouse 
hygiene. 


S88  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

good  principles  in  schoolhouse  construction.  After  investi- 
gating the  recent  constructional  work  done  in  a  number  of 
our  cities,  and  after  having  examined  the  Gary  plan  of 
instruction  and  building,  the  superintendent  of  buildings 
there  finally  worked  out  a  standard  form  of  sixteen-class- 
room  building,  such  as  would,  first  of  all,  meet  the  present 
and  reasonably  prospective  needs  of  the  city,  and  at  the 
same  time  would  be  capable  of  conversion,  almost  without 
change,  into  a  Gary-type  school,  should  such  later  be  de- 
cided upon  as  the  desirable  type. 

The  instructions  to  architects,  to  guide  them  in  the 
drawing-up  and  submission  of  plans  for  new  elementary- 
school-buildings,  cover  the  present  needs  for  modern  elemen- 
tary-school-building construction  so  well  that  we  reproduce 
the  schedule  of  what  must  be  included.^  The  architect 
is  left  free  to  submit  his  own  ideas  in  the  matter  of  the 
arrangement  of  rooms  and  the  exterior  design,  so  long  as 
good  hygienic  standards  are  met  and  the  building  does 
not  go  higher  than  two  stories  and  a  basement.  A  building 
unit,  as  here  used,  is  defined  as  not  exceeding  one  thousand 
square  feet  of  floor  space. 


Classrooms 


Kindergarte: 


Schedule  of  Rooms 

5  16  classrooms,  24'  X  32'  6",  with  cloak-rooms.  .16  miits 
(    1  migraded  room 3  miit 

r  1  kindergarten  room  "] 

J  1  kindergarten  wardrobe  1  ii      •♦ 

j  1  kindergarten  toilet  j * 

L  1  kindergarten  workroom  J 


1  Program  and  Details  of  Construction  and  Equipment  for  Grade  Schools, 
prepared  by  C.  L.  Woodbridge,  superintendent  of  buildings.  Revised  edi- 
tion of  February  8,  1914  (64  pp.),  25  of  which  are  drawings  of  equipment 
required.  A  very  valuable  public  document. 


SCHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT 


Household 
Economy 


Indtistrial 
Training 


1  sewing-room 

1  wardrobe  and  locker-room  I  ^i  ^^ 

1  fitting-room 

1  model  bedroom 


Administration ' 


I 


1  Demonstration  room f  miit 

1  domestic-science  room        ^ 

1  wardrobe  and  locker-room  I  ,  i       .. 

1  pantry  j 

1  model  dining-room  J 

1  bench-room  1 

1  wardrobe  and  locker-room  r ll  miits 

1  storage-room  J 

1  demonstration  room f  miit 


"  3  units 


>  3  units 


1  drafting-room  'j 

1  wardrobe  and  locker-room  r 1  unit  - 

1  storage-room  J 


1  general  oflSce 
1  private  office 
1  book  storeroom 
1  physicians'  room 
1  teachers'  room 

1  janitors'  supply-room 

2  voting-rooms 

1  girls'  play-room  as  specified. 
1  boys'  play-room  as  specified. 

1  assembly  room,  with  seating  capacity  for  700. 

2  paved  play-yards,  each  11,000  square  feet.  This  may 

include  walks. 


2  units 


1  imit 


To  the  above  schedule  could  be  added  with  advantage 
a  branch-library  stack-  and  reading-room  of  one  and  one- 
quarter  units,  so  as  to  provide  for  making  the  building  even 
more  a  community  center.  Some  of  our  city  school  sys- 
tems have  also  included  shower-baths,  and  in  a  few  places, 
a  swimming-pool.  A  science  room  and  a  museum  with  suit- 
able equipment,  and  a  special  drawing-room,  might  also  be 
added.    Gary  also  includes  a  music  studio. 


S90  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Larger  use  of  school-buildings.  Such  a  plan  for  an  ele- 
mentary-school building  at  once  suggests  larger  community 
usefulness  for  it  than  the  mere  seat-work  instruction  of 
children  for  a  few  hours  a  day.  Such  a  building  could  be 
transformed,  as  all  elementary-school  plants  should  be, 
into  a  community-center  institution,  ministering  to  the  needs 
of  both  the  children  and  the  adults  of  the  community,  both 
in  the  daytime  and  in  the  evening  and  for  almost  the  entire 
year.  The  branch  library  should  be  open  the  year  round, 
and  should  be  so  placed  as  to  be  capable  of  being  entered 
from  the  outside,  and  at  times  when  other  parts  of  the  build- 
ing are  closed.  The  assembly  hall,  also,  should  be  capable 
of  use  at  any  time  without  opening  more  than  the  entrance 
hall  of  the  building.  Both  of  these  rooms  naturally  should 
be  on  the  ground  floor.  The  play-rooms  and  the  play-yards 
should  also  be  capable  of  use  at  times  when  the  school- 
building  proper  is  closed.  The  same  should  be  true  of  the 
shower-baths  and  swimming-pool. 

The  use  of  the  school  plant  at  other  times  and  for  other 
purposes  than  day  schoolroom  instruction  may  be  said  to 
be,  as  yet,  in  its  beginnings  with  us,  but  the  idea  represents 
a  desirable  extension  of  the  work  and  influence  of  the 
school.  It  means  a  large  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  the 
school  plant,  and  much  greater  community-welfare  returns 
for  the  money  invested  in  the  buildings,  grounds,  and 
equipment.  The  increased  use  of  the  plant  and  the  in- 
creased community  service  rendered  much  more  than  com- 
pensate for  the  extra  expense  involved  in  extending  the 
usefulness  of  the  school.  Evening  school  work,  evening 
lectures,  reading-rooms,  vacation  schools  and  children's 
playgrounds,  recreational  work  for  youths  and  adults, 
parents*  meetings,  civic  club  meetings,  and  social  meet- 
ings of  various  kinds,  are  among  the  possibilities  of  a  school 
plant  arranged  as  in  the  Pittsburg  schedule.    Should  the 


SGHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT  391 

future  seem  to  make  it  desirable  to  do  so,  it  would  be  pos- 
sible, with  few  additions  to  the  plant,  to  establish  "  Gary- 
type"  schools  in  these  new  Pittsburg  buildings.^ 

Costs  for  buildings.  The  costs  for  school-buildings  and 
grounds  have  experienced  a  marked  increase  within  the 
past  two  decades,  due  in  part  to  better  material  construc- 
tion, due  in  part  to  the  introduction  of  better  hygienic  stand- 
ards, due  in  part  to  the  introduction  of  new  types  of  in- 
struction which  have  required  special  rooms  and  equipment, 
and  due  in  part  to  the  demand  for  larger  playground  space 
for  the  children.  These  developments  and  additions  we  now 
regard  as  necessities.  As  a  result  the  expense  for  buildings 
is  likely  to  increase  rather  than  grow  less  in  the  future, 
and  this  increased  expense  the  public  must  be  prepared  to 
meet.  The  more  the  school  makes  itself  of  service  to  the 
community,  and  the  better  the  community  understands 
what  the  school  is  doing,  the  more  willingly  will  the  in- 
creased expense  be  met. 

Payment  for  by  tax  or  by  bonding.  There  is  one  phase  of 
the  cost  of  a  school-building  which  ought  to  be  considered 
much  more  carefully  by  our  American  cities  than  now  seems 
to  be  done,  and  that  is  the  question  of  paying  for  the  build- 
ing by  tax  at  the  time  of  construction,  or  of  deferring  the 
payment  to  some  future  time  by  issuing  bonds.   The  prac- 

1  The  Gary  plan  (see  Bulletin  by  Bums)  in  a  way  arose  as  a  means  of 
facing  a  school  situation  created  by  the  very  rapid  growth  of  a  new  city, 
where  every  department  of  the  city  needed  funds  for  the  development  of 
its  work.  By  increasing  somewhat  the  cost  of  each  plant,  for  larger  grounds 
and  for  many  special  rooms,  each  building  was  made  to  care  for  about 
twice  the  ordinary  number  of  pupils,  thus  materially  reducing  the  initial 
per-capita  cost  for  the  school  plant.  Each  building  there  is  a  school,  a  work- 
shop, a  playground,  a  city  library,  and  a  civic  and  community  center  all 
in  one. 

The  plan  employed  in  Boise,  Idaho,  and  described  by  Meek  in  Proceedings 
of  the  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  172-78,  of  using  pupils  to 
help  in  construction  and  in  the  furnishing  of  school  equipment,  besides 
being  highly  educative,  also  tends  materially  to  reduce  costs. 


392 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


«100,000 


$100,000 


Bonds  Outstanding 


$172,^ 


Ori(»inal  cost 
of  building 

Fig.  33.    PRINCIPAL  AND  INTEREST  COST  FOR  A  SCHOOL  BUILDING 

This  drawing  shows  the  results  of  building  a  $100,000  school-building,  and  pay- 
ing for  it  by  the  issuance  of  five  per  cent  school  bonds,  on  a  five-  to  twenty-five- 
year  basis.  In  a  city  assessed  at  $25,000,000,  it  would  have  cost  the  taxpayers 
only  forty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  of  assessed  valuation  to  have  paid  for 
the  building  in  a  single  year,  or  twenty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  had  the 
cost  been  spread  over  the  two-year  period  covered  by  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ing.   The  ultimate  tax  cost  will  be  sixty-nine  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars. 

tice  of  deferring  payment  to  the  future  is  becoming  more 
common,  and,  though  still  quite  limited,  has  recently  shown 
a  marked  tendency  to  increase.^  In  some  of  our  cities,  due 
to  peculiar  conditions,  such  deferment  may  be  almost  a 
necessity,  but  the  practice  is  in  many  ways  undesirable, 
and  is  often  entirely  unnecessary  where  resorted  to.^    In 

^  Up  to  1909  the  percentage  of  school  debt  to  other  city  debt  was  but 
2.2  per  cent,  and  with  a  total  outstanding  school  debt  for  all  cities  having 
a  population  of  30,000  or  over  of  $48,282,260.  Since  then  the  school  debt 
has  increased  faster  even  than  the  municipal  debt,  being  2.6  per  cent  in 
1912,  and  representing  a  total  of  $74,949,343,  —  an  increase  in  school 
bonded  debt  of  52  per  cent  in  three  years. 

Our  city  school  corporations  have,  however,  been  more  careful  in  the 
matter  of  bonded  debt  than  any  other  department  of  our  municipalities. 
Some  cities  have  always  paid  for  their  school  buildings  as  erected,  and  have 
never  issued  bonds.  See  table  on  "Gross,  Funded,  and  Floating  Debts  of 
Cities,"  in  the  U.S.  Census  Bureau's  annual  publication  entitled  Financial 
Statistics  of  Cities,  for  a  list  of  cities  having  no  bonded  school  debt. 

^  "The  large  initial  cost  for  fireproof  buildings,  and  the  plan  of  paying 


SCHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT  393 

addition  to  the  larger  costs  involved,  the  deferred-payment 
plan  puts  a  mortgage  on  the  future  which  is  likely  to  prove 
hesivy  to  carry.  ^  Especially  is  this  the  case  with  elemen- 
tary-school-buildings of  a  type  which  will  require  large 
maintenance  costs,  and  after  from  twenty -five  to  thirty-five 
years  must  be  replaced. 

Large  future  educational  needs.  If  we  could  see  anything 
to  indicate  that  our  American  cities  will,  in  the  near  future, 
reach  the  end  in  the  development  of  their  school  systems, 
and  that,  say  in  twenty -five  to  forty  years  from  now,  they 
will  have  all  the  needed  school-buildings  constructed,  then 
the  plan  of  deferring  payment  by  issuing  bonds  and  spread- 
ing the  costs  over  a  period  of  years  would  not  be  so 
objectionable.  ^ 

Those  who  have  studied  the  problem  most,  however, 
can  see  no  such  end  of  the  process.    On  the  contrary,  with 

for  them  all  in  one  year  by  a  tax,  is  what  makes  school  building  in  Portland 
seem  so  costly.  At  the  present  time  Portland  needs  about  sixty  new  class- 
rooms a  year  for  its  elementary  schools  alone.  Soon  the  number  may  be 
seventy,  eighty,  and  perhaps  even  more. 

"The  large  cost,  however,  is  more  apparent  than  real.  On  the  basis  of 
the  present  assessment  of  property  in  the  school  district,  the  initial  cost  for 
sixty  classrooms  in  fireproof  construction  will  raise  the  yearly  tax  rate  for 
schools  in  the  district  only  about  one  half  mill  (5  cents  on  the  $100  of 
assessed  property) ;  and  a  tax  of  1|  mills  (15  cents  on  the  $100)  will  pay  for 
the  sixty  fireproof  classrooms  complete,  with  no  bonds  and  no  future  inter- 
est charges.  The  rate  will  probably  never  exceed  this,  as  increases  in  values 
will  counterbalance  the  increased  number  of  classrooms  required.  In 
other  words,  to  build  and  pay  for,  at  once  and  v^^thout  bonds,  a  large, 
reinforced-concrete,  22-classroom  building,  such  as  the  new  Failing  School, 
would  cost  a  citizen  only  about  55  cents  for  every  $1000  of  property  for 
which  he  is  assessed,  —  a  trifle  more  than  the  cost  of  four  good  cigars." 
(Portland  School  Survey  Report,  chap,  xii.) 

1  What  each  city  should  have  is  the  authorization  to  levy  an  annual 
building  tax,  sufficient  to  pay  for  a  building  in  two  or  three  years,  and  the 
authority  to  borrow  if  needed  for  temporary  purposes.  An  annual  building 
tax  of  1 1  to  2|  cents  on  the  $100  would  provide  for  the  ordinary  building 
needs  of  most  cities, 

^  See  also  pages  101-03  of  Ayres'  Report  on  the  Springfield,  Illinois, 
School  Survey  on  the  question  of  bonding  for  school-buildings. 


394  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  great  change  which  is  taking  place  in  our  conceptions  a» 
to  the  nature  and  place  of  public  education,  there  is  every 
indication  that  public  education  will  in  time  become  the 
greatest  business  of  a  city  or  a  state.  In  a  quarter  to  a  half 
a  century  from  now  public  education  is  almost  certain  to  be 
extended  into  fields  of  constructive  service  which  we  now 
but  dimly  imagine.  There  is  every  probability,  also,  that 
everything  that  tends  to  conserve  child  life  and  advance 
child  welfare,  and  hence  the  welfare  of  the  race,  as  well  as 
most  of  those  efforts  relating  to  the  improvement  of  condi- 
tions surrounding  adults  and  home  life,  will  in  time  come 
to  be  regarded  as  a  legitimate  function  of  our  systems  of 
public  education.  If  such  should  prove  to  be  the  case, 
then  those  cities  will  be  best  able  to  meet  the  large  edu- 
cational demands  of  the  future,  and  in  a  really  large  way, 
which  do  not  handicap  themselves  too  heavily  with  bonded 
school  debt  now. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  A  good  school-building  is  sometimes  said  to  be  the  combined  work 
of  an  artist,  an  engineer,  a  physician  and  hygiene  expert,  a  school 
administrator,  and  an  economist.  Indicate  the  place  of  each  in 
planning  and  erecting  a  school-building. 

2.  Do  you  think  the  State  should  lay  do^vn  hygienic  and  constructional 
standards  which  all  communities  should  meet,  and  make  provision 
for  state  inspection  and  approval  of  all  plans  for  new  school-buUd- 
ings  and  all  major  alterations  in  old  ones?  Should  the  state  over-- 
sight  extend  to  the  architecture  ?    Why  ? 

3.  Why  is  it  particularly  desirable  that  the  head  of  the  property  depart- 
ment should  be  given  the  employment,  control,  and  dismissal  of  the 
school  janitors?  In  a  smaller  city  where  would  you  place  such  control? 

4.  Is  it  desirable  to  employ  a  regular  school  architect  or  to  throw  open 
competition,  under  such  restrictions  as  in  Pittsburg,  to  any  respon- 
sible architect  anywhere? 

5.  Is  it  desirable  to  have  a  standard  type  of  school-building,  or  to  eC* 
courage  individuality  in  the  appearance  of  schools? 

6.  Should  there  be  manual-training  and  domestic-science  rooms  and 
equipment  in  each  building,  or  only  at  certain  "centers"?  If  teachers 
or  pupils  have  to  move,  which  is  tJie  better  plan? 


SCHOOL-PROPERTIES  DEPARTMENT  305 

7.  What  would  you  think  of  having  music  and  drawing  studios  in  the 
building  ?  Swimming-pools  ? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Proper  standards  as  to  schoolhouse  site,  and  the  location  and  orienta- 
tion of  a  school-building. 

2.  Size,  lighting,  and  equipment  of  a  standard  classroom. 

3.  School-toilet  facilities. 

4.  School  baths. 

5.  School  heating  and  ventilation. 

6.  Evening  lectures  at  schoolhouses. 

7.  Recreational  work  at  schoolhouses. 

8.  Schools  as  civic  and  social  centers. 

9.  Unit  costs  for  school-buildings  of  different  types. 

10.  The  Gary  building  plans  and  costs. 

11.  The  sanitary  problems  of  a  schoolhouse. 

12.  Fumigation  of  books  and  buildings. 

13.  Qualifications  and  duties  of  a  school  janitor. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Bums,  W.  P.   The  School  System  of  Gary,  Indiana.  Bulletin  no.  18,  1914, 
U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education.  49  pp.,  illustrated. 
Gives  pictiires  and  plans  of  buildings,  and  describes  their  use. 
Butte,  Montana.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.   (1914.) 

Chapter  IX,  on  "School  Buildings  and  Equipment,"  points  out  the  defects  and 
needs  of  the  city,  and  describes  a  needed  reorganization  of  the  school  plant. 

Chancellor,  W.  E.  Our  Schools;  Their  Direction  and  Management.  338  pp. 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  1908. 

Chapter  IV,  on  "The  City  School-Building,"  and  Chapter  V,  on  "Needed  Equip- 
ment," offer  many  good  suggestions. 

Chicago,  Illinois.  Report  of  the  Educational  Commission.   (1899.) 

Chapter  XX,  on  "  School-Buildings  and  Architecture,"  contains  a  number  of  good 
recommendations  as  to  construction. 

Curtis,  H.  S.  Education  through  Play.  359  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York, 
1915. 

Contains  good  chapters  on  American  school  playgrounds  (Chap,  vii),  the  school 
playgrounds  at  Gary  (Chap,  ix),  and  the  school  as  a  social  center  (Chap.  xv). 

Dresslar,  F.  B.  School  Hygiene.  369  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1913. 
An  excellent  book  on  the  construction  and  care  of  school  buildings.  Should  be  in 
every  sui)erintendent's  collection.  Good  bibliographies. 

Dresslar,  F.  B.  American  Schoolhouses.  Bulletin  no.  5,  1910,  U.S.  Bureau 
of  Education,  132  pp.,  267  plates,  and  bibliography. 

A  very  important  document,  picturing  and  describing  the  best  that  has  been  done 
in  American  city  schoolhouse  construction. 


396  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  Administration  of  Public  Education  in  the 

United  States. 

Chapters  XI  and  XII,  on  the  details  of  schoolhouse  construction,  contains  some 
good  suggestions. 

Eliot,  Cbas.  W.  "A  Good  Form  of  Urban  School  Organization";  in  the 
Report  of  the  U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1903,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
1356-62. 

Outlines  the  form  of  organization  in  St.  Louis,  and  the  work  of  the  different  de- 
partments. 

Hanmer,  L.  F.  "  The  Schoolhouse  Evening  Center;  —  What  It  Is,  What  II 
Cost,  and  What  It  Pays  ";  in  Proceedings  of  National  Education  As- 
sociation, 1913,  pp.  58-64. 

Describes  an  evening  in  a  Massachusetts  city,  and  gives  some  data  as  to  mainte- 
nance costs  and  benefits. 

Perry,  C.  A.  "Social-Center  Ideas  in  New  Elementary-School  Archi- 
tecture"; in  American  School  Board  Journal.   (April,  1912.) 

A  survey  of  newer  elementary-schoolhouses.  Provision  for  adults  as  well  as 
children. 

Perry,  C.  A.  "School  as  a  Social  Center";  in  Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Edu- 
cation, vol.  V,  pp.  260-67. 

A  very  good  summary  of  the  movement  in  the  United  States  and  Europe,  with  many 
citations  to  work  attempted  in  different  cities. 

Perry,  C.  A.  Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant.  423  pp.  Charities  Publication 
Committee,  New  York,  1911. 

A  very  important  work  on  evening  schools,  vacation  schools  and  playgrounds, 
social  and  recreational  centers,  public  lectures,  and  a  larger  use  of  school-buildings. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York, 
1915. 

Chapter  XII  deals  largely  with  the  financial  aspect  of  the  building  and  sites  prob- 
lem in  a  large  and  rapidly  growing  city,  while  Chapter  XIII  is  a  good  presentation  o^ 
the  defects  and  needs  of  the  school  plant  from  the  point  of  view  of  good  standards  in 
school  hygiene. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.    Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.    324  pp. 
1915. 
Chapter  X,  on  the  school  plant,  is  a  good  analysis  of  the  school-building  situation. 

Wirt,  W.  A.  "Utilization  of  the  School  Plant";  in  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  1912,  pp.  492-97. 

A  good  article  on  obtaining  higher  efficiency  by  larger  use  of  the  school  plant.  Com- 
pares costs  for  Gary  with  South  Chicago  parks. 

The  City  School  as  a  Community  Center.  75  pp.  Good  biblio- 
graphy. Tenth  Year  Book  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of 
Education,  part  i.  Univ.  Chic.  Press,  1911. 

A  valuable  document.  Describes  the  public  lecture  system  of  New  York  City  and 
Cleveland,  and  the  Rochester  civic  and  social  centers.  Also  contains  articles  oa 
vacation  playgrounds,  organized  athletics,  evening  recreational  centers,  the  ccn- 
munity-used  school,  and  home  and  school  associations. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

AUXILIARY  EDUCATIONAL  AGENCIES 

It  is  the  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  refer  very  briefly  to 
three  auxiliary  educational  agencies  which  seem  destined, 
sooner  or  later,  to  become  an  integral  part  of  our  public 
educational  organization.  These  three  agencies  are  the  public 
library,  the  public  playground,  and  the  school-garden  move- 
ment. Both  the  library  and  the  playground  are  now  some- 
what generally  under  the  control  of  separate  boards,  and 
the  school-garden  movement  is  largely  fostered  by  individ- 
uals and  societies,  but  a  well-organized  twentieth-century 
school  system  could  direct  the  work  of  each  more  economi- 
cally and  more  efficiently  than  can  be  done  if  each  is  to 
remain  under  separate  administrative  organizations. 

1.    The  public  library 

The  public  library  arose  with  us  as  a  separate  institution^ 
and  still  quite  generally  retains  its  separate  organization. 
The  library  board  administers  the  library,  and  the  school 
board  administers  the  schools.  Between  the  two  for  a  long 
time  there  was  no  attempt  at  cooperation.  The  school  im- 
parted instruction,  while  the  library  loaned  books  to  mem- 
bers or  to  the  public  which  came  to  borrow. 

Efforts  toward  cooperation.  The  beginning  of  coopera- 
tion between  the  two  agencies  dates  from  the  attempts  made 
by  the  free  public  library  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  in 
1879,  to  bring  about  a  closer  connection  between  the  public 
library  and  the  public  schools  of  that  city.  After  about 
fifteen  years  the  idea  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  both 


898  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

schoolmen  and  librarians,  as  each  began  to  see  that  both 
were  engaged  in  educational  undertakings  which  would  be 
more  productive  of  results  if  the  two  worked  in  closer 
cooperation.  In  1897  the  National  Education  Association 
appointed  a  "Committee  on  the  Relations  of  Public  Li- 
braries to  PubHc  Schools,"  and  reports  were  made  on  the 
subject  to  the  meetings  of  the  Association  in  1898  ^  and 
1899.2 

Since  that  time  an  earnest  effort  has  been  made  by  many 
school  superintendents  and  by  many  public  librarians  to 
secure  a  closer  cooperation  in  educational  effort,  and  much 
valuable  work  has  been  accomplished.  Much  more  still  re- 
mains to  be  done.  The  librarian  often  feels  that  his  efforts  at 
cooperation  are  not  appreciated  by  the  school,  and  that  the 
school  authorities  are  uninterested  and  apathetic.  This  is 
often  true.  The  school  authorities,  on  the  other  hand,  some- 
times make  the  same  complaint  of  the  public  librarian.  The 
library  often  lacks  an  appreciation  of  the  standpoint  of  the 
school  in  the  matter  of  educating  the  reading  public,  and 
the  school,  on  its  part,  lacks  an  appreciation  of  the  peculiar 
community  problems  which  the  library  tries  to  solve.  On 
the  whole,  however,  the  pubHc  librarians  have  shown  a 
more  cooperative  spirit  than  have  the  schoolmen.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  with  reference  to  state  traveling  libraries 
and  county  library  work  on  the  one  hand,  and  county  and 
town  educational  authorities  on  the  other. 

Administrative  control.  The  trouble  arises  in  part  from 
a  lack  of  coordinated  effort,  due  to  separate  organization 
and  control,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that  a  closer 
administrative  organization  will  in  time  be  effected.  The 
mission  of  these  two  community  educational  agencies  is  the 
same,  and  their  object  is  similar  if  not  identical.    Each  is 

^  See  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1898,  pp.  1014-28. 
2  Ibid.,  1899,  pp.  452-529. 


AUXILIARY  EDUCATIONAL  AGENCIES         399 

working  in  its  own  way  to  solve  the  same  problems  of  com- 
munity education,  the  library  being  a  supplemental  and 
continuing  agency  for  what  the  school  begins.  There  would 
be  little  need  for  the  library  were  it  not  for  the  school,  and 
the  school  fails  in  part  in  its  mission  of  education  if  it  fails 
to  get  its  pupils  into  working  relations  with  the  public 
library. 

In  a  few  cities  the  library  and  the  schools  are  operated 
by  one  board,  the  board  of  education  being  the  board  of 
control  for  both  the  public  library  and  the  public  schools.^ 
In  such  the  librarian  is  appointed  by  and  is  responsible  to 
the  board  of  education,  and  holds  a  position  somewhat 
coordinate  with  that  of  superintendent  of  schools.  In  a  few 
other  cities  the  school  department  is  represented,  ex  officio^ 
on  the  library  board  by  the  superintendent  of  schools  or  the 
president  of  the  board  of  education.  In  by  far  the  great 
majority  of  our  cities,  though,  there  is  no  governmental 
union,  all  cooperation  being  by  mutual  agreements  between 
the  public  librarian  and  the  superintendent  of  schools  or 
other  school  authorities. 

As  our  city  school  systems  become  better  organized  as 
educational  undertakings,  and  eliminate  personal  and  party 
politics  from  their  management;  as  executive  heads  are 
appointed  and  given  control  of  educational  functions,  with- 
out continual  interference  on  the  part  of  school  boards  or 
members  of  school  boards;  as  the  school  gradually  organ- 
izes its  instruction,  and  enlarges  the  scope  of  its  work; 
and  as  school  executives  come  to  the  work  better  prepared, 
and  take  a  larger  view  of  their  work;  it  is  probable  that 
there  will  be  much  less  objection  to  a  closer  administrative 

*  Indianapolis  forms  a  good  example  of  this  form  of  organization,  the 
public  library  there  being  regarded  merely  as  one  of  the  many  educational 
agencies  of  the  community.  In  commission-governed  cities  this  is  com- 
monly the  condition.  In  Sacramento  one  commissioner  is  in  charge  of  the 
schools,  library,  parks,  playgrounds,  and  public  morals. 


400  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

union  of  the  library  and  the  school  than  would  at  present 
be  the  case.  Our  public  library  boards  have  been,  in  the 
past,  much  freer  from  personal  and  party  politics  than  have 
our  school  boards,  and  until  the  people  are  ready  to  put 
school  organization  and  administration  on  a  higher  basis 
it  is  probable  that  the  library  will  prefer  to  retain  its  sep- 
arate organization.  Such  being  the  case,  a  provision  by 
which  the  superintendent  of  schools  should  be,  ex  officio, 
a  member  of  the  public  library  board,  with  full  power  to 
speak  and  to  vote,  would  be  a  desirable  amendment  to  in- 
corporate into  the  present  laws  providing  for  the  creation 
of  city  library  boards. 

Unity  of  the  work  of  library  and  school.  The  two  insti- 
tutions, library  and  school,  really  belong  together.  With  the 
development  of  the  community-center  schoolhouse,  with 
a  branch  public  library  in  each  large  school  building,  a  se- 
lected reference  library  of  some  size  in  each  intermediate  and 
high  school,  and  a  small  room  library  in  each  elementary- 
school  classroom,  it  is  desirable,  in  the  interests  of  effi- 
ciency and  economy,  that  the  library  work  should  be  under 
one  organization  and  control.  If  the  librarian  in  each  ele- 
mentary, intermediate,  and  high-school  building  has  had 
some  library  training  and  is  officially  connected  with  the 
central  public  library,  rather  than  with  the  school,  the  re- 
lations which  will  be  established  between  the  school  instruc- 
tion and  permanent  library  interests  are  much  more  likely 
to  become  deep  and  lasting. 

The  library  in  the  future  school.  It  will,  without  doubt, 
be  one  of  the  missions  of  the  twentieth-century  school  to 
direct  the  outside  reading  of  the  child,  to  cultivate  an  ap- 
preciation for  good  books,  and  to  teach  pupils  how  to  use 
books  as  tools.  The  literature  teacher  in  a  public  school  is 
in  a  sense  a  children's  librarian,  and  her  classroom  should 
be  in  reality  a  small  library  for  special  purposes.  The  school 


AUXILIARY  EDUCATIONAL  AGENCIES        401 

library  enlarges  the  teacher's  possibilities  for  usefulness,  and 
a  close  cooperation  between  the  public  library  and  the  school 
enlarges  it  still  more.  To-day  both  school  ^nd  library  are 
working  at  the  problem,  each  somewhat  independently  of  the 
other,  with  a  consequent  lack  of  the  highest  effectiveness 
and  a  certain  duplication  of  effort  and  expense.  In  time, 
as  the  two  institutions  come  into  closer  union  and  coopera- 
tion; as  the  library  extends  its  work  downward  into  the 
schools,  and  as  the  schools  extend  their  work  upward  and 
outward  into  the  problems  of  adult  education  and  civic  life, 
the  two  institutions  probably  will  render  more  effective 
community  service  if  placed  under  one  board  of  control 
and  united  as  parts  of  a  community  educational  service.^ 

2.    The  Public  Playgrounds 

The  public  playground  represents  a  relatively  recent  ef- 
fort to  organize,  along  healthful  and  educational  lines,  the 
natural  play-activities  of  children.  Probably  the  first 
playground  organized  especially  for  children  was  the  one 
provided  by  the  Children's  Mission  in  Boston,  in  1886,  by 
placing  "three  piles  of  yellow  sand"  in  its  yard  for  the 
children  of  the  neighborhood  to  play  in.  The  following  year 
eleven  piles,  —  one  in  a  school-yard,  —  with  matrons  to 
supervise  the  play,  were  provided.  Two  summer  play- 
grounds were  established  privately  in  Philadelphia  in  1893, 
a  sand  garden  in  Providence  in  1894,  and  a  summer  play- 
ground in  Chicago  in  1897.  The  first  public  playground  was 

1  At  Gary,  where  the  school  employs  specially  trained  teachers  to 
direct  the  outside  reading  of  children,  who  meet  each  child  for  a  thirty- 
minute  period  on  alternate  days,  and  where  sets  of  books  and  classroom 
libraries  are  in  use,  it  has  been  found  that  "the  library  maintenance  and 
salary-cost  per  book  circulated  and  read  is  about  one  fourth  of  a  cent,  only 
five  per  cent  of  said  cost  in  public  libraries.  The  life  of  a  book  circulated 
in  sets,  under  the  direct  control  of  the  special  teachers,  is  ten  times  that  of 
the  usual  library  circulating  book."  (Superintendent  W.  A.  Wirt,  in  Pro- 
ceedings of  National  Education  Association,  1912,  p.  494.) 


402  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

organized  in  New  York  City  in  1898.  By  1911,  257  cities 
reported  1543  playgrounds  as  in  operation,  and  75  other 
cities  known  to  have  playgrounds  did  not  report. 

Playground  organization.  In  many  of  our  cities  play- 
ground commissions  have  been  created  to  provide  play 
facilities  for  children,  and  much  valuable  work  has  been 
done.  Old  parks  have  been  enlarged  and  their  usefulness 
extended,  new  ones  have  been  acquired,  special  municipal 
playgrounds  have  been  provided  and  equipped,  and  play 
directors  have  been  employed  and  installed.  The  influence 
of  the  work  is  seen  in  the  general  demand  that  public  schools 
be  provided  with  larger  and  better  playground  facilities. 

Even  more  than  in  the  case  of  library  work,  separate 
organization  and  direction  of  public  playgrounds  involves 
both  an  unnecessary  duplication  of  effort  and  a  very  ma- 
terial increase  in  expenses.  A  municipal  playground  is 
expensive  both  to  provide  and  to  maintain,  and  it  is  in  use 
but  a  small  fraction  of  the  time,  while  playgrounds  organized 
as  a  part  of  the  school  plant,  and  run  in  connection  with  the 
regular  day  and  vacation  schools,  can  be  utilized  practically 
all  of  the  time.  By  organizing  play  as  a  part  of  the  regular 
school  curriculum,  as  is  being  done  now  by  a  few  of  our 
city  school  systems,  and  then  providing  regular  play  teach- 
ers for  the  schools,  the  school  playground  can  be  utilized 
constantly  from  8  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  every  day,  thus  providing 
about  ten  times  the  play  facilities  which  can  be  provided 
for  under  the  municipal  playground  plan,  and  at  less  cost. 

Superintendent  Wirt,  of  the  Gary,  Indiana,  schools,  in 
a  paper  read  before  the  National  Education  Association, 
in  1912  {Proceedings,  pp.  492-95)  compared  costs  for  the 
two  types  of  playgrounds,  as  follows :  — 

The  city  of  Chicago  has  a  most  elaborate  system  of  recreation 
parks  and  field  houses.  Selecting  the  eleven  most  successful  parks 
of  the  South  Side  Commission,  we  may  compare  the  total  cost  and 


AUXILIARY  EDUCATIONAL  AGENCIES 


403 


use  of  the  eleven  parks  with  the  cost  and  use  of  the  one  Gary- 
school  plant.  Note  that  the  attendance  of  the  parks  is  the  total, 
not  the  average  for  the  eleven  parks.  Also  note  that  the  cost  of 
the  school  includes  the  furnishing  of  complete  school  facilities  for 
2700  children,  in  addition  to  the  social  and  recreational  features. 


Items 

Totals  j(yr 

Eleven  parks 

One  Gary  school 

Population 

800,000 

$2,000,000 

$440,000 

310,000 

2,000,000 

1,385,000 

725,000 

270,000 

70,000 

600.000 

520,000 

20,000 

First  cost,  less  land. 

$300,000 

Annual  maintenance  .    . . 

$100,000 

Annual  attendance  — 

Indoor  gynmasium 

1,000,000 

Outdoor  gj^mnasium 

Shower  baths 

2,000,000 
500,000 

Swimming-pool 

300,000 

Assembly  halls 

1,000,000 

Clubrooms 

50,000 

Reading-rooms 

1,000,000 

Lunch-rooms 

20,000 

Importance  of  directed  play.  Play  is  essential  to  the  proper 
development  of  all  children,  and  play  under  good  conditions 
may  be  said  to  be  a  child's  fundamental  right.  The  child's 
physical,  intellectual,  social,  and  moral  development  in  part 
hinges  about  proper  facilities  for  play.  Organized  and  di- 
rected play  is  worth  much  more  than  unorganized  and  un- 
directed play,  and  the  social  and  moral  conditions  surround- 
ing children  during  such  organized  and  directed  play  are 
much  better.  If  directed  play  is  provided  as  a  regular  part 
of  the  school  curriculum,  as  it  should  be  in  cities,  the  work 
can  be  so  arranged  as  to  be  not  only  of  value  in  itself  but 
also  of  service  in  the  general  education  of  children.  If 
organized  in  connection  with  the  public  school  work  and 
correlated  with  the  work  in  physical  training  and  health 
teaching,  and  especially  with  the  vacation  school  work,^ 

^  In  the  conduct  of  the  summer  vacation  schools,  as  at  present  organized, 
directed  play  forms  a  very  important  part  of  the  instruction  provided. 


404  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

it  can  be  made  much  more  effective  educationally  than 
can  ever  be  the  case  when  organized  separately  under  a 
playground  commission.  It  will  not  only  be  more  effective, 
but  it  can  also  be  organized  and  conducted  at  less  expense. 

3.  School  gardening 

School  gardening  has  for  some  time  been  a  feature  of 
public  education  in  European  cities,  but  represents  a  very 
recent  and  as  yet  but  imperfectly  accepted  idea  in  our 
American  cities.  The  first  school  garden  in  America  prob- 
ably was  the  Wild  Flower  Garden  at  Roxbury,  Massa- 
chusetts, established  by  private  citizens  in  1891.  The  school 
gardens  established  by  the  National  Cash  Register  Com- 
pany, at  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  1897,  were  also  among  the  first 
in  this  country.  Many  cities  now  have  school  gardens  and 
school  gardening  associations;  usually  fostered  by  indi- 
viduals or  organizations,  and  conducted  independently  of 
any  oflScial  connection  with  the  schools.  Such  organiza- 
tions are  doing  for  the  school  children  a  work  of  large  edu- 
cational importance,  and  one  that  should  be  done  by  the 
schools  instead  of  by  private  associations  and  individuals. 

School  gardening  and  the  school.  What  is  accomplished 
by  such  organized  work  is  of  value,  to  children  of  certain  types 
of  very  great  value,  but  it  reaches  only  a  limited  number  and 
cannot  be  so  effectively  done  as  it  would  be  if  organized 
as  a  part  of  the  regular  instruction  of  the  schools.  School 
gardening  is  a  legitimate  and  a  very  desirable  addition  to 
a  city  school  course  of  study,  and  should  be  given  a  definite 
place  and  time.    The  work  in  home  gardening,  too,  should 

Should  our  cities  organize  a  twelve-months  school,  as  many  tendencies  seem 
to  indicate  as  a  probable  line  of  future  city  development,  organized  play 
will  form  a  still  more  important  part  of  school  instruction,  and  the  desira- 
bility of  a  close  connection  between  school  and  playground  will  be  empha- 
sized. The  large  use  of  municipal  playgrounds  now  is  at  times  when  the 
regular  school  is  not  in  session. 


AUXILIARY  EDUCATIONAL  AGENCIES         405 

be  closely  connected  with  the  school  gardening  work.  A 
supervisor  of  school  gardens  should  be  appointed,  in  cities 
of  thirty  to  forty  thousand  inhabitants  or  over,  to  plan  and 
direct  the  work,  to  secure  and  look  after  vacant  lots  to  be 
used  for  school  gardens,  to  prepare  and  issue  bulletins  on 
the  work  for  the  general  information  of  teachers,  parents, 
and  children,  and  to  meet  with  the  teachers  responsible  for 
the  work  in  each  school. 

It  is  in  the  cities  that  work  in  school  gardening  is  of  most 
importance,  from  an  educational  and  aesthetic  point  of  view. 
To  many  city  children  it  is  almost  the  only  contact  they 
ever  get  with  nature.  To  some  it  is  a  means  of  education  in 
which  they  become  deeply  interested,  and  to  many  it  means 
good  and  healthful  exercise  in  the  fresh  air  and  sunlight. 
The  nature-study  value  of  the  observation  of  how  plants 
germinate,  grow,  and  mature,  the  lessons  in  social  coopera- 
tion which  gardening  can  be  made  to  teach,  the  industrial 
experience  coming  from  the  money  value  of  the  products 
raised,  the  efforts  to  excel  developed  by  competition,  the 
withdrawal  of  children  from  the  games  and  vices  of  the 
street,  and  the  possibilities  of  carrying  through  a  vacation 
interest  in  such  work,  all  are  features  of  the  school  garden- 
ing movement  which  are  of  much  moral  as  well  as  educa- 
tional value. 

New  educational  agencies  and  purposes.  The  utilization 
of  the  library,  the  playground,  and  the  school  garden  as 
educational  agencies  represents  only  another  phase  of  the 
rapidly  growing  purpose  to  change  our  city  school  systems 
from  mere  instructional  institutions  into  constructive  child- 
welfare  institutions,  —  to  change  the  school  from  a  place 
merely  for  intellectual  training  into  a  place  where  a  child 
can  work  and  play  and  grow  and  live  a  life  that,  for  him, 
is  as  real  as  any  adult  life  can  be.  This  requires  the  develop- 
ment of  many  new  educational  activities,  the  utilization  of 


406  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  entire  educational  equipment  of  a  city  in  the  most  effi- 
cient manner  possible,  and  the  provision  of  those  saving 
and  uplifting  influences  which  are  especially  needed  to  meet 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  modern  city  life.  Careful 
health  supervision  and  instruction,  an  interigent  and  con- 
structive administration  of  an  attendance  department,  in- 
structive and  competitive  school  gardening,  organized  and 
directed  play,  and  a  full  utilization  of  the  public  library 
as  an  educational  agency,  —  these  represent  the  more  im- 
portant of  the  saving  and  uplifting  influences  which  should 
be  utilized  more  fully  in  the  work  of  public  education. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  What  form  of  organization  and  control  is  followed  for  the  public 
libraries  in  your  State? 

2.  What  types  of  cooperation  exist  between  the  public  libraries  and  the 
schools  in  your  State? 

3.  What  relation  do  the  school  libraries  bear  to  the  public  library  col- 
lections? 

4.  If  the  school  playground  is  more  economical  and  more  effective  edu- 
cationally, how  do  you  account  for  the  rapid  development  of  muni- 
cipal, as  opposed  to  the  school  playgrounds? 

5.  Why  has  it  usually  been  easier  to  secure  playground  development 
through  a  playground  commission  than  through  a  board  of  education? 

6.  In  what  does  the  moral  and  aesthetic  value  of  school  gardening 
consist? 

7.  What  relation  does  the  fuller  utilization  of  the  newer  educational 
agencies  mentioned  in  this  chapter  bear:  (a)  to  the  question  of  the 
economy  of  time  in  education?  (&)  to  the  question  of  a  longer  school 
day  and  week? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  What  is  the  best  type  of  work  being  done  in  your  State  by  the  public 
schools  in  developing  a  taste  for  books  and  introducing  pupils  to  good 
literature? 

2.  Look  up  and  make  a  report  on: 

(o)  Notable  work  being  done  in  library  and  school  cooperation. 

(b)  Municipal  playgrounds. 

(c)  School  playgrounds. 

(d)  Vacation  schools  and  vacation-school  instruction. 

(e)  The  school-gardening  movement. 


AUXILIARY  EDUCATIONAL  AGENCIES         407 

(J)   The  Gary  plan  for  handling  directed  play. 
(g)  The  course  of  study  in  play. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Chadsey,  C.  E.  "What  does  Each,  the  Library  and  the  Public  School,  con- 
tribute to  the  Making  of  the  Educated   Man?"    In  Proceedings  of 
National  Education  Association,  1909,  pp.  860-63. 
A  good  short  article  on  library  and  school  cooperation. 
Curtis,  H.  S.  Education  through  Play.  359  pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York; 
1915. 

Contains  good  chapters  on  play,  playgrounds  in  Europe  and  America,  the  play- 
grounds of  Gary,  and  play  in  the  curriculum.  A  good  book. 

Curtis,  H.  S.    The  Reorganized  School  Playground.   28  pp.  Bulletin  no.  40, 
1913,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
Good  directions  for  equipping  and  utilizing  school  yards  as  playgrounds. 
Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.   The  Administration  of  Public  Education  in 
the  United  States. 

Chapter  XXXI,  on  the  widening  sphere  of  public  education,  presents  a  good  brief 
summary  of  many  movements  for  the  improvement  and  extension  of  the  educational 
service  in  our  cities.   Good  bibliography  at  end  of  chapter. 

Green,  M.  L.  Among  School  Gardens.  388  pp.;  illustrated.  Charities  Pub- 
lication Committee,  New  York,  1910. 

A  practical  guide  to  the  work.  Chapter  I  gives  the  evolution  of  the  school-garden 
movement.   Good  lists  of  reference  books. 

Jewell,  J.  R.  Agricultural  Education.  140  pp.,  Bulletin  no.  2,  1907,  U.S. 
Bureau  of  Education. 
Pages  23-46  contain  good  information  relating  to  school  gardens. 
Monroe,  Paul,  {editor).  Cyclopedia  of  Education.  See  articles  on  "Libraries,** 
vol.  IV,  pp.  7-19;  "Playgrounds,"  vol.  iv,  pp.  728-30;  and  "Gardens, 
School,"  vol.  Ill,  pp.  10-12. 
Good  short  descriptive  articles. 
Perry,  C.  A.  Wider  Uses  of  the  School  Plant.  423  pp.  Charities  Publication 
Committee,  New  York,  1911. 

A  very  important  work  on  evening  schools,  vacation  schools  and  playgrounds, 
social  and  recreation  centers,  and  larger  use  of  schoolhouses. 

Playground  and  Recreation  Association  of  America.    Proceedings  of  the 
Annual  Playground  Congresses. 

Contain  many  good  articles.  See  also  the  magazine.  Playground,  issued  by  this 
association. 

Wirt,  W.  A.   "Utilization  of  a  School  Plant";  in  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  1912,  pp.  492-95. 
A  brief  description  of  the  full  and  economical  utilizations  made  at  Gary. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING 

Constantly  increasing  costs.  It  will  be  evident,  from 
what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  chapters,  that  an  effi- 
cient school  system  must  cost  more  money  —  oftentimes 
much  more  money  —  than  does  the  ordinary  city  school  sys- 
tem of  to-day.  Practically  every  addition  made  to  a  school 
system  with  a  view  to  increasing  its  efficiency  means  the 
expenditure  of  additional  funds  for  equipment  and  main- 
tenance. In  any  growing  American  city  the  school  system 
is  continually  calling  for  increased  funds,  and  in  even  a 
relatively  stationary  city  a  school  system  that  is  trying  to 
keep  up  with  the  progress  of  American  education  is  also 
continually  asking  for  increased  appropriations  for  equip- 
ment and  maintenance. 

An  expensive  school  system  may  not  be  an  efficient  school 
system,  but  a  cheap  school  system  cannot  be  an  efficient 
school  system,  viewed  from  the  larger  community  point  of 
view.  The  only  way  to  make  better  schools  is  to  spend,  in 
an  intelligent  manner,  a  constantly  increasing  amount  of 
money  on  them.  If  a  school  system  is  to  run  on  cheap  lines 
it  cannot  be  highly  efficient.  Either  its  teachers  or  officers 
will  lack  in  grasp  and  render  inefficient  service,  or,  if  these 
happen  to  be  efficient  in  spite  of  the  low  compensation  paid, 
the  system  will  be  inefficient  in  that  it  will  minister,  to  only 
a  limited  extent,  to  the  larger  community  needs. 

A  cheap  school  system.  If  a  cheap  system  of  instruction 
is  desired  the  school  system  should  not  be  expanded, 
the  courses  of  instruction  should  not  be  enriched,  and  no 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  409 

effort  should  be  made  to  minister  to  new  educational  needs. 
An  eight-year  elementary-school  course,  based  wholly  on 
textbook  instruction;  large  classes;  no  kindergartens,  man- 
ual training,  or  domestic-science  instruction;  and  an  old- 
line  book-type  of  high-school  course  (languages,  history, 
English,  mathematics,  and  textbook  science)  is  by  all 
means  the  cheapest  type  of  a  school  system  to  provide. 
Teachers  for  such  instruction  cost  less;  classes  can  be  larger; 
few  if  any  special  supervisors  will  be  needed;  there  will  be 
but  small  expense  for  teaching  equipment,  and  no  extra 
expense  in  building  school-buildings  (as  in  Pittsburg)  for 
rooms  for  any  form  of  special  instruction;  large  school- 
grounds  will  not  be  needed;  and  overhead  expenses  will 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  A  teacher,  a  classroom,  some 
seats,  a  stove  and  some  fuel,  a  few  maps  and  books,  and  a 
small  expense  for  paper,  pencils,  ink,  and  chalk,  represent 
about  the  equipment  needed  for  such  instruction. 

The  poorer  the  public  schools,  too,  the  larger  the  number 
of  parents  who  will  patronize  the  private  and  the  parochial 
schools,  and  for  the  children  of  such  the  city  will  not  need 
to  build  schools,  employ  teachers^,  or  incur  any  expense 
whatever.  Of  course,  there  should  be  no  attempt  to  en- 
force attendance  laws  in  a  city  maintaining  such  a  school 
system.  Retardation  will  not  be  objectionable  in  such  a 
school  system,  because  the  pupils  stay  down  in  the  grades 
where  the  instruction  costs  less,  and  a  smaller  percentage 
ever  enter  the  high  school  where  the  instruction  costs  more. 
An  examination  of  census,  attendance,  and  retardation  data; 
salary  lists  and  classified  expenditures;  and  the  published 
courses  of  study  for  some  of  our  American  cities  would  seem 
to  indicate  that,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  a  number  of 
our  cities  are  still  maintaining  such  a  cheap  type  of  school 
system.  An  examination  of  such  items  for  the  present, 
compared  with  similar  items  for  a  decade  ago,  however, 


410  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

indicate  marked  progress  in  the  matter  of  expenditures, 
and  hence  in  educational  consciousness,  during  the  past 
ten  years. 

The  problem  of  increased  funds.  The  administration  of 
public  education  cannot  be  made  a  money-saving  process. 
If  it  were  it  would  be  best  to  turn  education  over  entirely 
to  private  agencies,  and  thus  save  the  entire  expense.  On 
the  contrary,  the  proper  administration  of  public  education 
with  us  to-day  calls  for  the  intelligent  expenditure  of  as 
large  an  amount  of  public  money  as  a  community  can  af- 
ford. As  new  needs  arise  this  amount  must  be  increased 
and  the  scope  of  the  school  system  must  be  extended.  The 
amount  of  money  expended  must  also  be  increased  to  meet 
the  rising  costs  for  all  kinds  of  service,  supplies,  and  ma- 
terials, and  to  satisfy  the  public  demand  for  a  better  and 
more  sanitary  type  of  equipment  for  the  schools. 

The  problem  which  faces  the  management  of  every  city 
school  system  to-day  is  how  to  secure,  in  competition  with 
the  increasing  demands  of  all  other  city  departments,  the 
funds  needed  to  meet  the  constantly  expanding  needs  of  the 
schools.  Upon  the  finance  committee  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion, in  a  general  way,  and  upon  the  superintendent  of 
schools  in  particular,  rests  the  burden  of  proving  to  the 
community  the  needs  of  the  school  system  in  order  that  the 
necessary  funds  may  be  obtained.  The  supei;Jntendent  of 
schools  who  fails  to  put  his  shoulders  to  the  collar  and  pull 
hard  at  this  point  in  his  work  is  one  who  may  set  the  develop- 
ment of  his  school  system  back  in  a  way  that  it  will  require 
his  successor  years  of  hard  work  to  bring  up.  Every  city 
department  is  pushing  for  additional  appropriations,  and 
unless  the  school  appropriations  are  separated  by  law  from 
city  council  control,  the  superintendent  must  push  also  to 
retain  his  proper  share.  To  secure  larger  funds  he  must 
amply  prove  his  larger  needs. 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  411 

Funds  independent  of  the  council.  To  protect  the  schools 
from  being  given  less  than  their  proper  share  of  funds  a  num- 
ber of  our  States  have  given  to  a  few  or  to  all  of  the  city 
school  systems  in  the  State  the  right  to  determine,  usually 
within  certain  legal  limits,  the  amount  of  school  funds 
needed,  and  to  certify  the  same  for  levy  without  interference 
by  any  city  authority.^  There  has  been  a  marked  increase  in 
such  authorization  within  the  past  fifteen  years,  as  well  as 
several  recent  attempts  on  the  part  of  city  officials  to  break 
down  such  separate  authorization.  The  rather  common 
tendency  of  city  governing  authorities  is  to  reduce  the 
school  department  to  a  branch  of  the  city  government,  and 
then  to  subordinate  the  interests  of  the  schools  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  patronage  departments  —  fire,  police,  streets, 
water,  sewers  —  of  the  city.  The  more  political  the  city 
government  the  greater  is  the  danger  to  the  schools.  In 
cities  operating  under  a  commission  form  of  government  the 
results  are  likely  to  be  much  better  than  when  a  city  council 
has  to  be  dealt  with. 

The  chief  argument  for  city  control  of  the  school  tax  is 
that  it  unifies  the  taxing  power,  and  gives  one  central 
representative  body  control  over  all  expenditures.  If  the 
schools  are  to  be  free,  why  not  the  parks  and  the  health  and 
the  police?    The  answer  must  be  that  the  schools  are  too 

^  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  form  good  examples  of  cities  in  which  the 
school  boards  have  been  given  full  power  to  levy  the  school  tax,  up  to  a 
limit  of  sixty  cents  on  the  one  himdred  dollars  of  valuation.  Ohio,  Kansas, 
and  California  are  good  examples  of  States  which  have  given  the  city  school 
authorities  such  independence  by  general  statute,  the  limit  being  twelve 
mills  in  Ohio,  twenty  mills  in  Kansas,  and  thirty  mills  in  Cahfornia.  Bard, 
Moore,  and  Greenwood  (see  References)  present  strong  arguments  for  this 
method  of  handling  the  school-tax  levy.  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland, 
Toledo,  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Duluth,  Denver, 
Omaha,  Portland,  and  Seattle  are  examples  of  other  cities  in  which  the 
school-tax  levy  is  in  the  hands  of  the  school  board.  Most  of  the  Western 
States  have  enacted  general  laws  giving  the  taxing  power  to  school  boards, 
as  have  also  a  number  of  Southern  States. 


412  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

important  for  the  future  of  our  national  life  to  trust  them 
to  the  whims  and  trades  and  log-rolling  of  a  political  body, 
elected  with  no  reference  to  school  administration/  and 
that  in  but  few  of  our  cities  has  the  sense  of  civic  duty  been 
such  as  to  enable  the  people  to  place  the  schools  on  an  equal 
footing  with  other  city  interests  when  party  politics  and 
personal  influence  are  brought  to  bear.^  Even  when  thor- 
oughly honest  and  actuated  by  good  motives,  the  members 
of  a  city  council  lack  that  close  touch  with  educational 
problems  which  will  enable  them  to  appreciate  the  large 
future  importance  of  expenditures  for  schools,  when  the 
school  needs  come  in  competition  with  the  pressing  and 
more  immediate  needs  of  other  city  departments.  The 
unity  of  the  city  tax-levy  is  an  argument  of  no  importance. 
No  other  city  department,  except  possibly  the  health  de- 
partment,^ represents  any  large  future  interest.  Even  it  is 
not  coordinate  with  the  government,  the  home,  and  the 
church,  as  is  the  school. 

The  experience  of  our  American  cities  indicates  clearly 

^  "It  is  commonly  recognized  that  education  cannot  be  reduced  to  the 
same  system  of  administrative  control  as  can  be  followed  in  dealing  with 
health,  police,  and  fire  departments  of  a  city,  because  the  school  is  an 
institution  coordinate  in  dignity  and  importance  with  the  government, 
the  church,  and  the  family,  and  must  not  be  subordinated  to  any  one  of 
them.  For  its  work  it  requires  freedom;  and  through  its  necessities  it  has 
obtained  freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  speech,  and  is  now  in  process  of 
attaining  a  third  form  of  freedom  equally  necessary  to  its  undertaking, 
namely,  the  freedom  of  teaching.  This  means  that  it  itself  shall  control  it? 
o^vn  courses  of  study,  its  own  methods  and  conditions  of  instruction,  suffi- 
cisnt  money  for  its  business,  and  its  own  expenditure  of  funds  set  apart  for 
purposes  of  education."  (E.  C.  Moore,  in  How  New  York  City  administer-^ 
its  Schools,  p.  7S.) 

2  See  especially  H.  E.  Bard,  The  City  School  District,  pp.  74-76. 

^  Within  recent  years  a  tendency  to  segregate  the  health  department 
also  has  been  evident,  as  cities  have  been  found  incompetent  and  unwilling 
to  deal  properly  with  the  health  problem.  A  conspicuous  example  of  this 
is  the  erection  of  a  State  Health  Council  in  New  York  State,  with  power 
to  supersede  any  local  health  ordinance  by  a  general  state  regulation. 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  413 

the  desirability  of  removing  the  tax-determining  power  for 
the  schools  from  the  control  of  the  city  council,  and  of 
placing  it,  within  certain  legal  limits  to  be  fixed  by  the 
legislature,  with  the  school  authorities  for  determination. 
If  within  the  legal  limits,  the  rate  decided  upon  should  not 
be  subject  to  review  by  any  city  authority.  The  results 
have  been  uniformly  good  in  those  cities  where  such  power 
has  been  transferred  to  the  school  authorities,  and  the 
schools  of  such  cities  have,  in  general,  been  able  to  make 
better  progress  than  in  those  cities  where  the  school  depart- 
ment still  remains  a  branch  of  the  city  government.  The 
rates  frequently  are  higher  than  under  council  control,  as 
they  usually  should  be,  but  they  are  not  higher  than  the 
needs  of  the  schools  would  indicate  as  desirable  or  the 
wealth  of  the  people  would  indicate  as  reasonable.  Of  all 
money  expended  by  any  department  of  a  municipality,  that 
expended  for  schools  is  probably  the  most  honestly  and  the 
most  intelligently  expended. 

The  competition  for  city  funds.  In  those  cities  and 
States  where  no  such  separation  of  the  tax-determining 
power  for  schools  has  as  yet  been  provided  for  by  law,  and 
the  schools  are  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  municipal  govern- 
ment, the  school  department  must  continue  to  compete  with 
the  other  departments  of  the  city  government  for  funds. 
This  demands  that  the  school  department  be  not  only  able 
to  prove  its  needs,  but  also  able  to  force  the  city  governing 
authorities  to  recognize  them. 

Once  the  city  authorities  tended  to  divide  the  city  taxes 
between  the  school  system  and  the  other  city  needs,  the 
other  city-department  needs  —  streets,  sewers,  health,  fire, 
police,  parks,  library,  and  general  expense  —  then  being 
relatively  small.  Within  recent  years  these  other  city  needs 
have  greatly  increased  in  size  and  importance,  due  in  part 
to  the  increasing  costs  for  all  kinds  of  service  and  material, 


414 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


and  in  part  to  the  more  insistent  public  demands  for  good 
parks,  streets,  sewers,  health  and  fire  protection,  etc.  Each 
of  these  other  departments  is  able  to  offer  easily  understood 
statements  as  to  needs,  unit-costs,  savings  effected,  benefits 
extended,  etc.,  to  back  up  their  requests  for  additional 
funds. 

The  school  department  also  asks  yearly  for  more  money, 
largely  on  the  basis  of  good  intentions  and  purposes,  but 


Schenectady,  N.Y.  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Fig.  34.    SHOWING  THE  COMPETITION  FOR  CITY  FUNDS 

In  both  cities  the  school  board  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  fixing  of  the  tax-rate  for 
schools,  and  in  each  the  schools  have  been  completely  outdistanced  in  the  race  for  funds 
by  other  city  departments.    Many  other  cities  will  show  a  similar  situation. 

without  being  able  clearly  to  prove  its  needs.  When  an  at- 
tempt is  made  to  do  so  it  not  infrequently  is  made  in  terms 
which  the  ordinary  citizen  can  scarcely  comprehend.  In 
part,  this  condition  is  inevitable,  by  reason  of  the  very  nature 
of  the  school.  Often,  however,  the  school  department  pre- 
sents no  budget  worthy  of  a  name,^  and  no  statement  that 

^  This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  situation  in  San  Francisco. 
"One  very  obvious  reason  why  the  schools  have  failed  to  receive  needed 
appropriations  is  that  the  school  authorities  have  not  known  how  to  ask 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  415 

sLows  that  it  knows  anything  as  to  the  unit  costs  of  its 
work,  or  the  need  for  or  the  effectiveness  of  expenditures 
within  the  school  department.  It  is  really  not  surprising  that 
city  councils  often  emphasize  other  city  departments  and 
give  the  schools  a  decreasing  percentage  of  the  annual  city 
taxes.  ^ 

for  money.  They  have  not  seen  the  relation  between  school  needs  which 
will  come  next  year,  and  lump  sum  requests  made  this  year  for  money, 
unsupported  by  statements  of  fact  or  proof  of  need.  Lump  sums  with  no 
details  whatsoever  are  set  down  opposite  all  other  items  than  teachers' 
salaries.  .  .  . 

"No  comparisons  are  made  in  the  estimate  of  the  board  or  the  superin- 
tendent of  last  year's  appropriation,  or  last  year's  expenditure,  with  the 
estimate  of  expenditures  for  next  year.  Nothing  in  the  salary  roll  indicates 
how  many  new  teachers  are  needed  because  of  new  enrollment,  or  new 
service  to  be  rendered:  $96,960  is  asked  for  janitors  in  elementary  schools, 
and  that  is  all.  Nobody  can  tell  how  many  janitors  this  will  provide,  what 
salaries  will  be  paid,  or  how  many  janitors  were  employed  last  year.  Simi- 
larly no  details  whatsoever  are  given  for  supphes,  nothing  in  regard  to  the 
amount  on  hand,  or  the  expected  consumption  next  year.  Huge  lump  sums 
are  asked  for  for  the  extensions  of  kindergartens,  additions  to  school  build- 
ings, yard  improvements,  etc.,  with  absolutely  no  statement  as  to  how  the 
money  asked  for  will  be  spent,  what  the  needs  are,  or  how  much  service 
will  be  bought  with  the  money. 

"The  figures  may  be  entirely  reasonable  and  adequate,  but  the  chances 
are  that  with  so  little  information,  and  with  the  ever-pressing  necessity  of 
cutting  down  all  estimates,  the  appropriating  body  will  suppose  that  the 
school  estimate  is  'swollen'  and  will  *chop'  accordingly. 

"The  yearly  reports  of  the  financial  transactions  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation are  also  utterly  inadequate.  The  financial  secretary  (business  mana- 
ger) makes  only  a  scanty  fist  of  disbursements.  A  thoroughly  unscientific 
financial  statement  is  made  by  the  Superintendent's  office  and  included  in 
the  annual  report.  The  supplies  director  makes  no  report  to  the  public." 
(School  Survey  Report  on  Some  Conditions  in  the  Schools  of  San  Francisco, 
pp.  71,  73.  Published  by  the  Collegiate  Alumnae  of  San  Francisco,  19i'*.> 

1  "  Each  claimant  before  city  boards  of  estimate  has  a  specific  reform  to 
promote,  and  presents  definite  figures  to  support  his  position.  It  is  not  the 
schools  vs.  graft,  but  the  schools  vs.  street-cleaning,  pure  water,  tenement- 
house  inspection,  the  prevention  of  disease,  or  the  reduction  of  infant 
mortality.  The  advocate  of  pure  water  or  clean  streets  shows  how  much 
the  death-rate  will  be  altered  by  each  proposed  addition  to  his  share  of  the 
budget.  Only  the  teacher  is  without  such  figures.  What  can  be  expected 
of  this  but  a  curtailment  of  the  school  budget?   Why,  I  ask,  should  New 


416  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

A  better  school  budget.  To  change  this  condition  our 
school  departments  must  provide  a  good  system  of  book- 
keeping and  a  more  accurate  means  of  accounting,  with  a 
view  to  being  able  to  make  their  requests  for  funds  more 
in  terms  of  past  usefulness,  future  needs,  unit  costs,  and 
units  of  accomplishment.  Unless  our  school  authorities 
introduce  more  accurate  methods  in  budget-making  they 
can  scarcely  hope,  in  these  days  of  rising  prices  and  increas- 
ing pressure  for  city  funds,  to  be  able  to  obtain  the  appro- 
priations necessary  to  allow  them  to  meet  the  constantly 
expanding  needs  of  a  modern  city.  Unless  this  situation  is 
faced  in  a  business-like  manner  our  superintendents  and 
school  boards  are  likely  to  find  the  burden  of  proof  as  to 
proper  use  of  funds  and  additional  needs,  even  in  cities  • 
where  the  school  board  controls  the  funds,  harder  and 
harder  to  meet  each  year. 

All  estimates  as  to  needs  should  be  classified  by  depart- 
ments, and  further  subdivided  under  the  main  headings 
used  in  accounting.  The  estimates  under  each  heading 
should  also  be  made  on  the  basis  of  the  actual  expenses  of 
the  preceding  year,  for  each  item;  the  quantity  of  each  kind 
of  service  or  supply  needed  the  coming  year;  and  the  cost 
per  unit  of  service  or  supply.  The  budget  should  also  state 
how  much  is  needed  to  meet  continuing  needs,  how  much 
for  automatic  increases,  and  how  much  to  meet  enlargements 
:n  tne  service  of  the  schools.  Any  additional  information 
which  will  enable  an  appropriating  body  to  reach  an  intelli- 
gent conclusion  with  respect  to  the  adequacy  or  excessive- 
ness  of  the  amounts  requested,  such  as  comparative  costs  for 
a  number  of  years,  comparative  costs  in  other  comparable  ^ 

York  City  put  its  money  into  schools  rather  than  into  subways?  Why 
should  it  not  enlarge  playgrounds  and  parks  instead  of  increasing  school 
facilities?  Why  should  it  support  inefficient  school  teachers  instead  of 
efficient  milk  inspectors? "  (S.N.  Patten,  in  Educational  Review,  May,  1911, 
p.  468.) 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  417 

cities,  reasons  for  increased  unit  costs,  etc.,  should  be  pre- 
sented in  support  of  requests  for  increased  funds. 

A  detailed  annual  school  budget  should  be  prepared,  and 
a  detailed  annual  statement  of  expenses  should  also  be  made 
to  the  people  of  the  city.  On  both  of  these  the  superintendent 
of  schools  should  spend  some  time  in  the  smaller  city,  and 
he  should  supervise  their  preparation  even  in  the  larger 
city.  Even  though  prepared  by  heads  of  departments,  as 
will  be  the  case  in  large  cities,  the  superintendent  should  be 
familiar  with  the  larger  details  of  the  budget  and  the  reasons 
for  each  important  request.  Upon  his  mastery  of  the  finan- 
cial details  of  school  administration  depends  much  of  his 
success  in  dealing  with  the  people,  and  with  the  tax-levying 
body  of  the  city,  in  all  of  those  matters  relating  to  the 
financial  aspect  of  the  educational  problem.  The  better 
business  man  the  superintendent  is  the  easier  will  he  be  able 
to  handle  this  phase  of  the  administrative  problem. 

Better  accounting  methods.  Better  budget  methods  in- 
variably demand  better  accounting  methods,  and  better 
accounting  methods  naturally  lead  to  the  preparation  of  a 
better  annual  budget.  Up  to  a  very  few  years  ago  there  were 
about  as  many  different  methods  of  school  accounting  as 
there  were  city  school  systems,  but  within  recent  years  city 
school  systems  have  quite  generally  adopted  the  form  for 
reporting  financial  statistics  prepared  by  the  cooperation 
of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  the  United 
States  Census  Office,  the  Association  of  School  Accounting 
Officers,  and  the  Committee  of  the  National  Council  of 
Education  on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports.  With  uni- 
form financial  reports  a  comparison  of  costs  for  different 
items,  and  for  different  parts  of  a  school  system,  is  now  pos- 
sible for  the  first  time. 

The  uniform  financial  records  now  in  use^  involve  the 

*  Copies  of  the  form  used  in  reporting  may  be  obtained  from  the  U.S. 
Commissioner  of  Education,  Washington,  D.C. 


418  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

keeping  of   all   school-system  costs   under  the  following 
headings :  — 

7.  Expenses  of  general  control.   (Classified  for  salaries  and  for 
other  objects.) 

1.  Board  of  education  and  secretary's  oflSce. 

2.  School  elections  and  school  census. 

3.  Operation  and  maintenance  of  general  offices. 

4.  Office  of  superintendent  of  schools. 

5.  Enforcement  of  compulsory-education  laws. 

6.  Other  expenses  of  general  control. 

7.  Total  expenses  of  general  control. 

II.  Expenses  of  instruction.  (Classified  under  day  elementary 
and  secondary  schools,  evening  elementary  and  secon- 
dary schools,  normal  schools,  schools  for  the  industries, 
special  schools,  and  special  activities.) 

1.  Salaries  of  supervisors  of  grades  and  subjects. 

2.  Other  expenses  of  supervisors. 

3.  Salaries  of  principals  and  their  clerks. 

4.  Other  expenses  of  principals. 

5.  Salaries  of  teachers. 

6.  Textbooks. 

7.  Stationery  and  supplies  used  in  instruction. 

8.  Other  expenses  of  instruction. 

9.  Total  expenses  of  instruction. 

III.  Expenses  of  operation  of  the  school  plant.  (Classified  as  under 

II.) 

1.  Wages  of  janitors  and  other  employees. 

2.  Fuel. 

3.  Water. 

4.  Light  and  power. 

5.  Janitors'  supplies. 

6.  Other  expenses  of  operation  of  plant. 

7.  Total  expenses  of  operation  of  plant. 

IV,  Expenses  of  maintenance  of  school  plant.  (Classified  as  under 

11.) 

1.  Repair  of  buildings  and  upkeep  of  grounds. 

2.  Repair  and  replacement  of  equipment. 

3.  Insurance. 

4.  Other  expenses  of  maintenance  of  school  plant. 

5.  Total  expenses  of  maintenance  of  school  plant. 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  419 

F.  Expenses  of  auxiliary  agencies.   (Classified  as  under  11.) 

1.  Libraries. 

(a)  Salaries. 

(6)  Books. 

(c)   Other  expenses. 

2.  Promotion  of  health. 

(a)  Salaries. 

(b)  Other  expenses. 

3.  Transportation  of  pupils. 

(a)  Salaries. 

(b)  Other  expenses. 

4.  Total  expenses  of  auxiliary  agencies. 

VI.  Miscellaneous  expenses.   (Classified  as  under  11.) 

1.  Payments  to  private  schools. 

2.  Payments  to  schools  of  other  civil  divisions. 

3.  Care  of  children  in  institutions. 

4.  Pensions. 

5.  Rent. 

6.  Other  miscellaneous  expenses. 

7.  Total  miscellaneous  expenses. 
VII.  Outlays.   (Classified  as  under  II.) 

1.  Land. 

2.  New  buildings. 

3.  Alteration  of  old  buildings. 

4.  Equipment  of  new  buildings  and  grounds. 

5.  Equipment  of  old  buildings,  exclusive  of  replacements. 

6.  Total  for  outlays. 
VIII.  Other  payments. 

1.  Redemption  of  bonds. 

2.  Redemption  of  short-term  loans. 

3.  Payment  of  warrants  and  orders  of  preceding  year. 

4.  Payments  to  sinking  funds. 

5.  Payments  of  interest. 

6.  Miscellaneous  payments,  including  trust  funds,  text- 
books to  be  sold  to  pupils,  etc. 

7.  Total  other  payments. 

Income  receipts  are  also  carefully  classified. 

School  accounts  and  unit  costs.  With  the  above  classi- 
fication of  expenditures  for  a  city  school  system  it  is  pos- 
sible to  tell  the  total  and  the  per-capita  costs  for  any  item 


420  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

of  school  expenditure,  and  in  any  type  of  school  —  such  as 
elementary,  high,  industrial,  special  —  in  the  system,  and 
separately  for  day  and  evening  schools.  By  a  further 
classification  of  expenditures  so  as  to  show  costs  for  all 
items  for  each  individual  school  in  the  school  system,  it  is 
possible  to  compare  costs  within  the  system,  and  to  detect 
wastes  and  to  perfect  economies.^  With  such  a  system  of 
bookkeeping  it  is  possible,  at  any  time,  to  determine  the 
per-pupil  cost  of  any  form  of  instruction,  the  per-room 
cost  for  any  form  of  service  or  supply,  and  the  per-building 
cost  for  any  item  of  maintenance  or  upkeep,  and  to  check 
wastes  wherever  found.  It  is  also  possible  to  determine  the 
most  effective  and  the  most  economical  units  of  organiza- 
tion and  administration  for  the  schools.  Such  a  system  of 
bookkeeping  every  city  should  install,  and  from  such  finan- 
cial records  a  clear  accounting  should  be  made  to  the  com- 
munity each  year  in  the  annual  school  report. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  City  A  has  increased  in  population  only  two  per  cent  in  a  decade,  and 
its  school  expenses  but  five  per  cent.  Would  this  seem  to  indicate  an 
efficiently  conducted  school  system? 

2.  In  two  cities  of  practically  the  same  size,  C  and  M,  the  school  expenses 
in  C  represent  thirty-one  cents  out  of  each  dollar  of  city  expenses, 
and  in  M  but  nineteen  and  a  half  cents.  What  would  this  seem  to  in- 
dicate as  to  the  efficiency  of  the  two  systems? 

3.  If  the  scope  of  the  school  systems  in  the  two  cities  given  above  is 
practically  the  same,  how  would  you  account  for  the  difference  in 
percentage  of  expenditures? 

4.  In  what  way  does  the  school-building  problem  complicate  the  ques- 
tion of  school  support  more  now  than  it  used  to  do? 

^  For  example,  such  figures  might  show  that  the  cost  for  fuel  in  two 
similar  buildings  was  20  per  cent  more  in  one  than  in  the  other;  that  the 
cost  for  pupil  supplies  in  elementary-school-buildings  ran  from  95  cents  to 
$1.05  except  m  two,  where  the  figures  were  55  cents  and  $1.89  respectively; 
and  that  the  yearly  per-capita  cost  of  instruction  was  $5.50  more  in  a  four- 
room  building  than  in  a  ten-room  building.  The  unit  costs  for  different 
types  of  instruction  could  be  worked  out  from  such  data. 


COSTS,  FUNDS,  AND  ACCOUNTING  421 

5.  With  all  city  departments  increasing  their  demands,  how  can  our 
cities  meet  the  problem?  Can  or  should  the  school  take  a  subordinate 
place  in  the  matter  of  needed  appropriations?  Why? 

6.  Is  it  a  good  thing  for  a  school  system  to  have  to  prove  its  needs: 
(a)  to  the  community?  (6)  to  a  city  council? 

7.  What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  (a)  unified  control  of 
all  funds?  (b)  separate  control  by  the  school  board  of  the  school 
funds? 

8.  What  advantages  do  other  city  departments  have  over  the  school 
department  in  the  matter  of  proving  their  needs? 

9.  Why  is  the  problem  of  funds  gettmg  more  difficult,  in  most  of  our 
cities,  for  the  school  department? 

10.  What  can  a  superintendent  do,  in  his  work  with  the  community,  which 
will  prepare  the  way  for  an  acceptance  of  the  school  budget  by  the 
city  council? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Assume  that  the  city  school  system  described  under  the  heading  "A 
cheap  school  system"  (page  408)  is  located  in  a  city  of  20,000  popula- 
tion, and  that  the  school's  share  of  the  city  taxes  is  eighteen  cents 
on  each  dollar.  Assume  now  that  a  new  management  takes  control,  and 
in  five  years  develops  a  good  and  an  efficient  school  system.  Esti- 
mate the  increased  cost,  and  the  percentage  of  the  city  taxes  now 
needed. 

2.  Outline  a  plan  by  which  the  above  increase  in  the  school's  share  of 
the  city  taxes  might  be  obtained,  against  the  competition  of  the  other 
city  departments. 

3.  Outline  a  good  form  of  budget  for  a  small  school  system. 

4.  Look  up  and  report  on  the  methods  used  and  the  Umitations  imposed 
in  levying  the  school  tax  in  the  cities  mentioned  in  footnote  1,  page  411. 

5.  Do  the  same  for  such  States  as  give  control  of  school  tax  levies  to  all 
cities  by  general  law. 

6.  From  what  sources  do  the  city  schools  of  your  State  receive  their 
revenue,  what  percentage  comes  from  each  source,  and  has  the  in- 
crease in  revenues  and  the  growth  of  the  schools  kept  pace  over  a 
decade  or  a  decade  and  a  half? 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Bard,  H.  E.  The  City  School  District.  118  pp.  Trs.  Col.  Contribs.  to  Educ, 

no.  28,  New  York,  1909. 

A  very  useful  study.   From  page  65  on  is  devoted  to  revenue,  tax  levies,  expen- 
ditures, and  accounting.   Good  bibliography. 

Bobbitt,  J.  F.  "  High  School  Costs  ";  in  School  Review,  vol.  23,  pp.  505-34. 
(October,  1915.) 

A  comparative  study  of  costs  in  a  number  of  high  schools,  illustrated  by  tables  and 
drawings. 


422  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Butte,  Montana.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.   (1914.) 

Chapter  XI,  on  "  Costs  and  Financial  Records,"  includes  forms  for  use  in  a  book- 
keeping plan,  and  points  out  the  need  of  better  records  for  the  school  system. 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  Administration  of  Public  Education  in  the 
United  States. 
Chapter  XXIX,  on  financial  statistics,  is  a  good  supplementary  chapter. 
Hutchinson,  J.  H.   School  Costs  and  School  Accounting.   148  pp.  Trs.  Col. 
Contribs.  to  Educ,  New  York,  1914. 
A  valuable  study  of  costs  and  accounting,  with  ledger  forms  for  use. 
Monroe,  Paul  (editor).    Cyclopedia  of  Education.    See  article,  "Budget, 
School,"  in  vol.  i,  pp.  461-64. 
A  general  statement  of  the  problems  involved. 
Moore,  E.  C.   How  New  York  City  administers  its  Schools.   311  pp.   World 
Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1913. 

Chapter  V,  on  the  "Relation  of  School  Appropriations  to  Growth";  Chapter  VI, 
on  the  "Need  of  freeing  the  Board  of  Education  from  the  Control  of  the  City  in  Mat- 
ters of  Finance";  Chapter  IX,  on  "Reporting  on  Costs";  and  Chapter  XI,  on  "How 
Estimates  are  prepared,"  are  good  on  the  conditions  existing  in  a  large  city-governed 
school  department. 

National  Education  Association  Committee.  Final  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports.  51  pp.  Made  as  a  report  to 
the  National  Council,  in  1912.  Printed  separately  by  the  National 
Education  Association. 

Contains  standard  forms  for  accounting. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.  (1913.) 
441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

Chapter  XVII,  on  "  Costs  of  the  System  of  Education,"  gives  a  comparative  study 
of  Portland  with  thirty-six  other  cities  of  its  class,  with  reference  to  costs  and  the 
ability  to  maintain  good  schools. 

Rowe,  L.  S.  "Educational  Finances;  the  Financial  Relation  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education  to  the  City  Government  "  ;  in  Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Political  Science,  vol.  xv,  pp.  186-203.   (March,  1900.) 
A  study  of  the  problem  of  city  control.   Thinks  it  ideal  rather  than  practicable. 
Illustrates  from  figures  from  a  number  of  cities. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  Report  of  a  Survey  of  the  School  System.  324  pp. 
1915. 

Chapter  XIII,  on  the  financial  problem,  establishes  a  standard  for  measuring  the 
amount  of  money  which  ought  to  be  spent  on  the  schools  of  the  city. 

Snedden,  D.,  and  Allen,  W.  H.   School  Reports  and  School  Efficiency.  183 
pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1908. 
A  very  useful  volume  on  the  collection,  tabulation,  and  publication  of  school  facta 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

RECORDS  AND  REPORTS 

Good  records  a  necessity.  From  all  that  has  been  said  so 
far  it  will  be  evident  that  good  and  accurate  records  as  to 
the  work  of  a  school  system  are  an  increasing  necessity. 
The  work  of  an  efficiency  bm*eau  must  be  based  on  good 
records,  and  the  ability  to  make  accurate  statements  as  to 
progress  and  needs  and  costs  makes  similar  demands  for 
facts.  In  many  of  our  school  systems  records  are  now  col- 
lected which  are  of  little  value,  in  their  present  form,  except 
for  purposes  of  complying  with  state  requirements,  while 
other  records  are  collected  which  might  be  made  of  value 
if  any  one  were  to  work  them  up  and  render  them  useful. 
In  many  cases,  though,  new  records  need  to  be  devised  and 
new  information  collected.  This  new  information  relates  to 
teachers,  to  pupils  as  individuals  and  as  groups,  and  to  the 
material  and  cost  side  of  instruction.  The  nature  of  the  data 
desired  has  been  indicated  somewhat  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ters. The  proper  collection  of  such  data  naturally  involves 
some  labor,  and  still  more  work  to  tabulate  it  and  make  it 
ready  for  use. 

It  is  not  desirable  to  put  more  report  work  on  teachers, 
though  all  efficiency  records  will  involve  teachers'  coopera- 
tion, nor  is  it  desirable  to  give  principals  more  office  work 
upon  which  to  spend  their  time  and  energy.  On  the  contrary, 
anything  that  can  be  done  to  take  principals  away  from  of- 
fice work  and  put  them  into  the  work  of  helpful  supervision 
is  very  desirable.  Since  more  and  better  records  and  re- 
ports are  desirable,  however,  and  since  such  are  necessary  for 


424  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

efficient  community  service,  an  office  clerk  should  be  pro- 
vided the  principals  in  all  school  buildings  of  any  size,  to 
give  out  supplies,  attend  to  the  telephone,  transact  much 
of  the  business  with  casual  callers,  send  notes  as  directed, 
check  up  records,  fill  out  and  transmit  forms,  and  do  the 
general  routine  office  work  of  a  school.  The  pressure  then 
should  be  put  upon  the  principals  to  get  out  of  their  offices 
and  into  the  schoolrooms,  and  to  extend  helpful  supervision 
to  their  teachers,  instead  of  remaining  in  their  offices  and 
doing  this  clerical  work. 

Pupil  records.  A  number  of  forms  of  pupil  records  should 
be  kept.  One  card  relating  to  the  school-attendance  matters 
will  be  necessary,  and  this  should  contain  such  data  as  is 
indicated  in  Chapter  XXI.  Another  will  be  what  is  known 
as  a  cumulative-record  card,  and  should  contain  a  brief  digest 
of  the  pupil's  age,  grade,  and  progress  record  during  his 
entire  school  course.^  These  record  cards  are  transmitted 
from  school  to  school,  as  the  pupil  moves  about.  Another 
type  of  pupil  records  is  now  in  process  of  being  evolved  to 
contain  data  as  to  the  pupil's  educational  progress,  as  deter- 
mined by  tests  of  various  kinds  which  are  made  from  time 
to  time. 

The  compilation  of  this  pupil  data  into  room,  grade, 
school,  and  school-system  data  will  require  some  clerical 
service,  but  there  is  every  reason,  drawn  from  the  experi- 
ence of  the  business  world  and  from  the  experience  of  the 
few  cities  which  have  collected  and  tabulated  such  informa- 
tion, to  believe  that  the  increased  efficiency  which  will  be 
made  possible,  and  the  increased  knowledge  as  to  means  and 
ends  and  values  which  will  result,  will  more  than  pay  for 
the  labor  necessary  to  secure  such  data  and  make  it  of  use. 

One  form  of  such  a  card  is  given  in  the  Preliminary  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports,  in  Proceedings  of  NcUional  Educa- 
tion Association,  1911,  p.  272. 


RECORDS  AND  REPORTS         425 

School-system  records.  Our  school  authorities  are  not 
likely  to  know  too  much  about  what  they  are  doing,  or  what 
the  work  attempted  is  costing.  Such  information  should  be 
tabulated  and  charted,  and  made  as  useful  and  intelligible 
as  possible.  Much  of  the  material  collected  will  be  capable 
of  graphic  representation,  and  the  presentation  of  facts  in 
graphic  form  will  always  prove  helpful  and  stimulating. 
The  use  of  such  graphic  data  in  the  form  of  charts,  lantern 
slides,  and  cuts  in  printed  matter,  should  prove  of  much 
use  in  educating  the  public.  Few  cities  now  have  or  use 
such  worked-up  data  with  regard  to  their  schools,  though 
many  other  city  departments  prepare  and  present  such 
graphic  evidence  as  to  the  effectiveness  and  usefulness  of 
what  they  are  doing. 

At  public- welfare,  public-service,  and  other  municipal  ex- 
hibits, one  usually  finds  much  of  this  graphic  work  showing 
what  is  being  done  by  city  park  boards,  city  health  boards, 
water  commissions,  tenement-house  commissioners,  milk 
inspectors,  hospital  service,  charity  commissions,  and  play- 
ground commissions,  but  usually  little  or  nothing  is  shown 
with  reference  to  the  work  of  the  public  schools.  These 
departments,  boards,  and  commissions  have  learned  that 
the  best  appeal  to  the  public  is  made  through  the  eye,  and 
■'che  constantly  increasing  funds  voted  for  these  purposes 
lii  our  cities  is  evidence  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  such  appeal. 
It  is  important  that  our  school  officials  learn  their  methods 
and  adopt  the  same  practices. 

The  annual  school  report.  Practically  the  only  means 
adopted  by  the  schools  in  the  past  to  inform  and  enlist  the 
interest  of  the  public  has  been  the  issuance  of  a  printed 
school  report.  An  examination  of  hundreds  of  printed  school 
reports  shows  how  painfully  inadequate  many  of  those  issued 
are.  Too  often  they  are  not  reports  at  all,  but  rather  a 
mechanical  record  of  certain  facts  relating  to  the  formal 


426  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

operation  of  the  school  system,  and  give  no  evidence  of 
having  been  prepared  for  any  other  purpose.  Sometimes 
they  contain  but  a  few  pages  of  report  proper,  the  great  bulk 
being  given  over  to  printing  a  course  of  study,  or  the  rules 
and  regulations  of  the  school  board.  Sometimes  these  re- 
ports are  issued  biennially  instead  of  annually,  sometimes 
only  occasionally,  and  not  infrequently  not  at  all.^  In  some 
of  our  States  it  seems  to  be  the  habit  for  the  school  authori- 
ties to  publish  little  or  nothing. 

Probably  no  greater  mistake  can  be  made  by  a  superin- 
tendent of  schools  or  by  a  school  board  than  to  omit  en- 
tirely the  publication  of  an  annual  report,  covering  the 
work,  progress,  and  need  of  the  schools,  and  with  such 
charts  and  interpreted  statistical  information  as  may  be 
necessary  to  prove  their  progress  and  performances  and 
needs.  No  more  effective  means  than  an  annual  printed 
report  ^  can  be  employed  for  informing  the  public  as  to  what 
is  being  done,  or  of  stimulating  a  public  interest  in  seeing 
that  the  needs  of  the  schools  are  provided  for.  Such  should 
serve  as  the  chief  means  of  communication  between  the 
superintendent  and  the  board  on  the  one  hand  and  the  pub- 
lic on  the  other.  In  dealing  with  the  council,  if  the  council 
is  the  tax-levying  power,  or  with  the  public  if  the  school 
board  determines  the  school-tax  rate,  it  can  be  made  to 
form  a  most  effective  bulwark  in  support  of  continued 
requests  for  larger  funds. 

A  policy  of  rapid  expansion  and  increased  expenditure  is 

1  The  habit  of  publishing  a  report  or  not  seems  to  run  by  states  and 
sections.  For  the  North- Atlantic  group  of  States  one  can  secure  annual 
reports  for  practically  all  cities,  while  for  Indiana  cities  it  is  difficult  to 
secure  any  printed  reports.  An  examination  of  the  salaries  paid  Indiana 
city  superintendents  causes  one  to  wonder  if  there  is  not  a  correlation  be- 
tween the  low  salaries  paid  and  the  failure  of  the  superintendents  to  tell 
their  communities  the  nature  and  importance  of  their  services. 

2  An  annual  printed  report  should  be  required  of  all  city  school  systems- 
by  general  state  law. 


RECORDS  AND  REPORTS         427 

almost  certain  to  end  in  disaster  for  the  superintendent 
who  is  too  busy  making  progress  to  take  time  to  tell  the 
people  what  he  is  doing,  and  why.^  Sure  and  permanent 
progress  is  made  only  when  the  people  understand  what 
is  being  done,  and  the  reasons  for  the  increased  cost.  The 
people  need  to  be  stimulated  by  their  school  officials  to  a 
desire  for  progress,  and  inspired  with  confidence  that  those 
who  represent  them  are  trustworthy  and  efficient.  Only 
upon  such  confidence  and  cooperation  can  the  work  of  public 
education  long  proceed. 

Educational  progress  necessitates  that  our  schools  must 
often  take  a  position  in  advance  of  the  conceptions  as  to 
educational  needs  of  the  average  intelligence  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  the  schools  are  located,  and  it  is  important 
that  the  school  authorities  keep  the  people  close  to  the 
schools.  This  means  an  entirely  different  thing  from  keep- 
ing the  schools  close  to  the  people.  The  former  calls  for 
leadership  and  constructive  statesmanship;  the  latter  is  the 
cry  of  the  time-server  and  the  man  of  little  competence. 

Effective  presentation  of  information.  A  school  report,  if 
it  is  to  be  read  and  understood,  must  present  its  information 
in  a  simple,  effective  manner.  The  usual  "collection  of  cold, 
conventional  facts,  loosely  arranged  and  presented  in  a 
purely  formal  manner,  and  without  any  indication  of  their 
vital  relationship  to  the  efficiency  or  growth  of  the  educa- 

^  Such  an  expansion  of  a  school  system  as  was  made  at  Newton,  Massa- 
chusetts, as  shown  in  Figure  28,  coupled  with  the  marked  increase  in  school 
attendance  of  those  beyond  the  compulsory  school  ages  and  the  attracting 
of  children  from  private  and  parochial  schools  to  the  public  school,  as 
shown  in  Figure  29,  was  not  accomplished  without  a  marked  increase 
in  the  per-cajrita  cost  for  schools.  The  schools  of  Newton  being  maintained 
wholly  by  local  (town)  taxation,  the  people  were  compelled  to  meet  this 
increased  cost  by  means  of  increased  taxation.  This  they  did,  and  rather 
willingly,  only  because  the  superintendent,  in  his  annual  printed  reports, 
showed  in  detail  where  every  additional  dollar  went,  and  the  need  for  such 
materially-increased  exnenditureg. 


428  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

tional  system,"  ^  will  not  bring  much  cooperation  or  re- 
sponse. Neither  will  it  be  read.  Reports  to  the  people 
about  their  schools  must  deal  with  children  and  their  edu- 
cation. In  these  the  people  will  be  interested.  The  financial 
accounts  are  usually  fairly  well  presented,  but  on  the  side 
of  the  educational  accounts  our  school  reports  are  usually 
weak.  If  our  people  seem  to  be  slow  in  responding  to  the 
increasing  and  enlarging  needs  of  our  schools,  it  is  in  part  due 
to  the  failure  of  our  school  authorities  to  render  a  proper 
accounting  to  the  people  of  their  educational  stewardship  of 
the  children. 

Upon  the  preparation  of  an  annual  school  report  a  super- 
intendent may  well  spend  a  month  or  a  month  and  a  half  of 
every  school  year.  It  is  one  of  his  most  important  duties 
as  superintendent.  In  a  way  he  should  be  thinking  of  what 
he  desires  to  say  to  the  people  as  he  goes  about  his  work 
during  the  year,  the  final  intensive  work  being  merely  the 
organization  of  the  material  he  wishes  to  present.  It  will 
pay  well  to  take  time  and  pains  to  prepare  a  good  report, 
and  the  money  which  the  board  spends  in  printing  it  will 
be  money  well  spent. 

Enlightening  the  public.  The  Committee  of  the  National 
Education  Association  on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports, 
in  its  preliminary  report  to  the  Department  of  Superin- 
tendence in  1911,  closed  its  report  with  the  following  im- 
portant statement  with  reference  to  school  reporting:  ^ 

Not  only  are  carefully  collected  and  well-organized  statistics 
vital  to  the  judicious  administration  of  the  school,  but  such  data 
serve  as  the  most  effective  means  of  enlightening  the  public  with 
reference  to  educational  needs  and  conditions.  The  growing  com- 
plexity of  modern  city  life  militates  against  parents  having  to  any 
extent  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  school.  Indeed,  the  average 
citizen  knows  little  of  the  purposes,   range  of  activities,  and 

1  Elliott,  in  Report  of  the  Portland  School  Survey,  chap.  xvi. 

2  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1911,  p.  302. 


RECORDS  AND  REPORTS  429 

methods  of  modern  education.  The  necessity  of  systematic  effort 
toward  acquainting  the  public  with  the  problems  and  needs  of  the 
school  is  now  felt  on  every  hand. 

In  such  a  campaign  mere  assertion,  personal  opinion,  and  per- 
sonal bias  have  little  weight.  The  public  only  takes  seriously  those 
presentations  of  school  needs  and  conditions  which  are  based  upon 
carefully-collected  and  well-interpreted  facts.  Only  by  the  use  of 
such  data,  set  forth  by  means  of  tables,  colored  circles,  curves, 
black-hne  graphs,  or  other  graphic  representations,  can  the  people 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  whole  work  of  the  school,  be  made 
to  realize  where  the  school  breaks  down,  be  brought  to  understand 
the  necessity  of  certain  adjustments  within  the  school,  be  brought 
to  appreciate  the  propriety  of  expending  such  large  sums  of  pubhc 
money  upon  education.  Only  by  these  means  can  the  public  be  con' 
vinced  that  the  modern  school,  despite  its  wide  range  of  instruction 
and  activities,  is  more  effective  than  the  school  of  the  past,  and  is 
seeking  as  never  before  to  serve  all  the  children  and  all  the  people  of 
the  community. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Dutton,  S.  T.,  and  Snedden,  D.  Administration  of  Public  Education  in  the 
United  States.   2d  ed. 
Chapter  XXX,  on  school  records  and  reports,  is  a  good  supplementary  chapter. 
National  Education  Association  Committee.    Preliminary  Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports;  in  Proceedings  of  National 
Education  Association,  1911,  pp.  271-302. 

A  good  report  on  the  need  and  means  for  enlightening  the  public  on  the  work  of  the 
schools. 

National  Education  Association  Committee.  Final  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Uniform  Records  and  Reports.  Made  as  a  report  to  the  Na- 
tional Council.  51  pp.  Printed  separately  by  the  National  Education 
Association. 

Covers  state  and  city  reporting,  with  many  forms  recommended  for  use. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Report  of  the  Survey  of  the  Public  School  System.   (1913.) 

441  pp.  Reprinted  by  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  New  York,  1915. 

Chapter  XVI  is  a  discussion  of  the  annual  report  issued,  and  the  forms  used  by  the 
school  department. 

Snedden,  D.,  and  Allen,  W.  H.  School  Reports  and  School  Efficiency.  183 
pp.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1908. 

A  very  useful  volume  on  the  collection,  tabulation,  and  use  of  school  facts. 


PART  III 

CITY  ADMINISTRATIVE  EXPERIENCE  APPLIED 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

CITY  ADMINISTRATIVE  EXPERIENCE  SUMMARIZED 

As  was  stated  in  Chapter  VI  to  be  our  purpose,  we  have 
now  considered,  at  some  length,  the  principles  underlying 
the  proper  organization  and  administration  of  school  sys- 
tems in  our  city  school  districts.  The  administrative  experi- 
ence of  the  city  school  districts  has  been  given,  somewhat  in 
detail,  and  the  best  principles  of  action  which  have  been 
evolved  during  the  past  half-century  of  conflict  and  progress 
have  been  set  forth.  We  have  devoted  so  much  of  our  space 
to  the  problems  of  the  city  because  the  best  that  we  have 
in  administrative  experience  has  taken  place  there,  and  it 
is  from  this  city  administrative  experience  that  the  great 
lessons  as  to  the  proper  organization  and  administration 
of  public  education  are  to  be  drawn.  In  forms  of  organiza- 
tion, administration,  supervision,  equipment,  and  in  the  ex- 
tension of  educational  advantages,  it  has  been  the  city  school 
district  which  has  been  the  pioneer.  Let  us  now  briefly  sum- 
marize this  administrative  experience,  and  then  proceed  to 
apply  the  best  results  of  it  to  the  problems  of  organization 
and  administration  of  public  education  in  our  counties  and  in 
the  State. 

The  city  an  educational  unit.  Perhaps  the  most  distinctive 
feature  of  city  school-district  organization  and  adminis- 
tration is  the  unity  of  the  work.  Instead  of  being  split  up, 
as  our  counties  are,  into  hundreds  of  little  school  districts, 
with  separate  boards  of  control  and  finance  for  each  little 
school -building,  and  with  no  unity  of  effort  or  purpose,  the 
schools  of  a  city  school  district,  however  large  this  city 
school  district  may  be,  are  managed  as  a  imit,  and  with 


434  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

all  the  educational  and  financial  advantages  that  come 
from  unit  control.  One  small  central  board  and  one  admin- 
istrative organization  controls  all  the  schools  of  a  city  dis- 
trict, even  though  that  city  district  may  contain  a  school 
population  as  large  as  is  found  in  some  of  our  States,  and 
may  even  expend  a  greater  sum  for  educational  purposes. 
Early  in  their  administrative  history,  as  was  pointed  out 
in  Chapter  VI,  our  cities  abolished  their  district  organiza- 
tions, consolidated  their  schools  under  one  board  of  control, 
and  unified  both  the  educational  and  the  financial  manage- 
ment of  their  schools.  Much  of  the  strength  of  our  city 
school  organizations  to-day  has  come  as  a  result  of  this 
wise  early  action;  without  this  unification  any  substantial 
progress  would  have  been  impossible.^ 

Everywhere  to-day  one  finds  this  unified  control,  worked 
out  of  course  more  perfectly  in  some  cities  than  in  others, 
and  with  a  resulting  unity  in  management,  finance,  and 
educational  purpose  which  is  of  much  importance  in  the 
administration  of  public  education.  A  small  board,  com- 
posed of  representative  citizens,  oversees  the  administration 
of  the  entire  school  system,  though  this  school  system  is  often 
much  larger  and  costs  much  more  to  maintain  than  is  true 
for  the  hundreds  of  little  town  and  rural  school  systems, 
taken  together,  of  the  county  in  which  the  city  is  located. 

Not  only  are  these  city  school  boards  small,  but,  as  we 
have  shown,  there  has  been  a  marked  tendency,  within 
recent  decades,  to  reduce  their  size  still  further,  to  change 

1  Had  Chicago,  for  example,  continued  to  follow  the  district  system  of 
organization  for  its  schools,  which  it  did  up  to  1853,  when  the  different 
district  schools  of  the  city  were  consolidated  into  one  city  system  and  a 
superintendent  of  schools  was  first  employed,  there  would  be  to-day  hun- 
dreds of  school  boards  in  the  city  trying  to  do  what  one  school  board  does 
now,  with  all  of  the  attendant  crossing  of  purposes,  lack  of  unity  of  ef- 
fort, and  waste  of  funds.  That  the  schools  of  Chicago  would  have  made 
the  progress  they  have  made  under  unified  control  cannot  be  seriously 
believed  by  any  one. 


CITY  EXPERIENCE  SUMMARIZED  435 

their  basis  of  election  from  wards  to  that  of  the  city  schoo? 
district  as  a  whole,  to  reduce  the  number  of  board  commit- 
tees or  to  abolish  them  entirely,  to  change  these  boards  from 
executive  into  legislative  bodies,  and  to  transfer  all  execu- 
tive functions  to  carefully  selected  and  well-paid  executive 
officers. 

Administrative  organization.  In  a  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  our  cities  the  best  principles  of  corporation  con- 
trol have  been  worked  out  and  are  being  put  into  practice  in 
the  educational  organization.  In  such  the  board  of  educa- 
tion for  the  city  acts  much  as  the  board  of  directors  for  a 
business  corporation,  listening  to  reports  as  to  the  progress 
of  the  business,  approving  proposals  as  to  extensions  or 
changes  in  the  nature  of  the  business,  deciding  lines  of 
policy  to  be  followed,  approving  the  budget  for  annual 
maintenance,  and  serving  as  a  means  of  communication 
between  the  stockholders  and  the  executive  officers. 

The  executive  officers  are  employed  to  discharge  execu- 
tive functions,  and  to  these  executive  officers  are  given  power 
and  authority  commensm-ate  with  the  responsibilities  of 
the  positions  they  hold.  The  board  of  education  hears  re- 
ports, examines  proposals,  and  legislates,  while  the  executive 
officers  execute  the  decrees  of  the  board  and  supervise  the 
details  of  the  work  of  their  administrative  departments. 
Each  executive  officer,  in  any  good  city  school  organization, 
has  been  selected  because  of  supposed  competency  to  manage 
the  work  of  his  department,  and  without  reference  to  such 
extraneous  considerations  as  politics,  residence,  or  local 
popularity;  each  is  sustained  in  the  administration  of  his 
department,  so  long  as  he  shows  grasp  and  competency  and 
renders  efficient  service;  and  each  is  given  control  of  the  de- 
tails of  administration  within  his  department,  and  is  ex- 
pected to  know  how  to  handle  such  as  an  expert  in  his 
special  field.  The  superintendent  of  schools,  as  the  unifying 


436  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

head  of  all  departments  and  the  chief  person  responsible  to 
the  board,  oversees  in  a  way  the  work  of  all  other  executive 
officers,  and  unifies  the  work  of  all  about  the  central  purpose 
for  which  the  schools  exist. 

Diversity  as  a  result  of  unity.  Largely  as  a  result  of  the 
unity  in  organization,  administration,  and  finance,  one 
finds  in  our  city  school  districts  a  diversity  in  the  educa- 
tional facilities  provided  such  as  could  not  possibly  be  ar- 
ranged for  under  any  other  than  a  centralized  form  of 
educational  and  financial  management.  Only  as  a  result  of 
a  unification  in  organization  and  administration,  on  a  rather 
large  scale,  can  such  specializations  in  school  work  be  pro- 
vided. All  of  the  schools  being  under  one  board  of  education 
and  one  administrative  and  supervisory  organization,  it  is 
possible  to  concentrate  effort  and  to  specialize  production, 
by  reason  of  this  large-scale  organization,  to  a  degree  that 
would  be  impossible  under  small  units  of  organization  and 
administration.  In  the  matter  of  the  scope  of  the  instruction 
provided,  types  and  classes  of  schools,  differentiations  in 
the  courses  within  the  same  school  and  in  different  schools, 
specializations  in  the  work  to  meet  varying  individual  needs, 
and  in  the  degree  of  community  service  which  is  being  ren- 
dered, our  city  school  districts  stand  as  excellent  examples 
of  the  higher  efficiency  and  larger  service  which  result  from 
a  unification  of  educational  effort  on  a  rather  large  scale, 
and  the  selection  of  experts  to  handle  the  expert  func- 
tions. Only  under  some  form  of  large-scale  educational 
organization  can  many  of  the  important  supplemental 
educational  advantages,  such  as  proper  grading  and  pro- 
motion, special  instruction  and  supervision,  special-type 
schools,  and  health  supervision,  be  provided  for  at  all. 

Teaching  and  supervisory  organization.  In  teachers  and 
supervisory  officers,  too,  the  city  school  districts,  due  largely 
to  the  many  educational  advantages  provided  as  a  result 


CITY  EXPERIENCE  SUMMARIZED  437 

of  their  large-scale  organization  and  administration,  have 
for  long  held  a  decided  advantage  over  the  towns  and  rural 
districts  surrounding  them.  Not  only  have  the  city  school 
districts  paid  better  salaries,  but  they  have  also  —  largely 
as  a  result  of  their  graded  and  specialized  instruction,  profes- 
sional supervision,  differentiated  school  work,  larger  oppor- 
tunities for  growth  and  promotion,  better  living  conditions, 
and  better  tenure  —  been  able  to  attract  the  better  teachers 
of  the  State  to  their  service.  The  normal  schools  of  the 
State,  too,  have  for  long  specialized  on  preparing  their 
graduates  for  service  in  the  graded  work  of  the  cities,  and 
the  colleges  and  universities  have  prepared  teachers  for  the 
secondary  schools  which  the  cities  have  until  recently  pro- 
vided almost  alone.  Grade  meetings,  local  institutes,  and 
professional  reading  have  added  to  the  opportunities  for 
teachers  to  improve  while  in  the  service,  and  have  increased 
the  attractions  which  have  made  good  teachers  everywhere 
anxious  to  get  into  the  city  districts.  So  great  has  been  the 
desire  of  teachers  to  get  into  the  schools  of  the  cities  that 
city  school  authorities  have  been  able  to  select,  and  often 
quite  carefully,  from  among  the  great  rush  of  those  desiring 
city  employment.  The  unified  organization  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  schools  of  a  large  unit  has  been  the  chief  rea- 
son why  the  city  school  districts  have  been  able  to  extend 
these  attractions  to  teachers  and  to  supervisory  oflBcers. 

As  a  result  of  this  large-scale  organization  and  administra- 
tion, the  cities  have  been  able  to  provide  carefully  graded 
instruction,  to  select  teachers  for  positions  and  to  adjust 
them  to  the  work  to  be  done,  to  provide  a  supervising 
principal  for  every  small  group,  to  employ  special  teachers 
and  supervisors  for  many  of  the  subjects  of  instruction,  and 
to  institute  educational  leadership  often  of  a  high  order. 

Business  organization  and  finance.  In  business  organiza- 
tion and  in  matters  of  finance,  our  city  school  districts  have 


4S8  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

for  long  enjoyed  exceptional  advantages.  These,  too,  have 
been  in  large  part  due  to  their  unified  organization  and 
administration.  Under  any  district  or  ward  form  of  organi- 
zation, some  districts  or  wards  would  be  unable  to  provide 
in  any  satisfactory  manner  for  the  education  of  their  children. 
With  the  whole  city  and  often  extensions  beyond  the  city 
as  a  school-district  unit,  for  which  educational  facilities  are 
provided  and  upon  which  taxes  are  laid  by  one  adminis- 
trative board,  without  reference  to  any  other  consideration 
than  the  needs  and  wealth  of  the  city  district  as  a  unit,  a 
pooling  of  costs  is  made  possible  which  results  in  the  pro- 
vision of  uniform  educational  advantages  for  all,  and  with- 
out undue  expense  to  any  portion  of  the  whole.  A  few  mills 
of  tax,  levied  equally  on  all  the  property  of  the  school  district, 
provides  good  educational  advantages  and  specialized  in- 
struction for  all  of  the  children  of  the  large  city  unit,  regard- 
less of  the  wealth  or  lack  of  it  in  any  portion  of  the  city. 

In  buying  supplies  and  in  the  erection  and  maintenance 
of  the  school  plant,  further  economies,  both  in  cost  price 
and  in  the  utilization  of  material  and  buildings,  are  pos- 
sible as  a  result  of  the  large  unit  for  educational  organization 
and  administration.  If  actual  economies  in  unit  costs  are 
not  effected,  then  a  better  type  of  supply  or  building,  or  more 
abundant  materials  for  instruction,  are  provided  for  the 
same  money.  In  concentrating  business  and  clerical  matters 
for  a  large  number  of  schools  in  one  place,  marked  econo- 
mies in  large-scale  purchases  may  be  made,  clerical  matters 
can  be  attended  to  better,  and  a  better  reporting  as  to  costs 
is  possible. 

Initiative  and  educational  progress.  Perhaps,  after  all, 
one  of  the  greatest  advantages  which  the  large  city  school 
districts  have  enjoyed  has  been  in  the  high  quality  of  train- 
ing, leadership,  and  initiative  which  the  city  districts  have 
been  able  to  bring  into  their  service.    Men  who  would  not 


CITY  EXPERIENCE  SUMMARIZED  439 

allow  their  names  to  be  considered  for  political  candidacy 
for  a  county  superintendency  have  been  quite  willing  to 
enter  the  city  service  as  a  teacher  or  a  principal,  and  men 
to  whom  candidacy  for  the  office  of  state  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  would  offer  no  attraction  have  been 
willing  to  enter  the  service  of  the  city  as  a  superintendent. 
The  result  has  been  that  for  two  generations  the  cities  have 
maintained  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  real  leaders  in  educa- 
tional administration  in  this  country,  with  all  the  advan- 
tages that  accrue  to  communities  from  intelligent  leader- 
ship. It  is  not  so  much  the  character  and  training  of  the 
teaching  force  that  tells,  though  these  are  important  ad- 
juncts, as  it  is  the  quality  of  leadership  at  the  top.  About 
a  superintendent  of  schools,  as  has  been  said  before,  the 
schools  in  a  way  revolve.  What  he  is  by  training,  insight, 
initiative,  character,  and  executive  skill,  the  schools  usu- 
ally in  time  become;  what  he  is  not  the  schools  usually 
plainly  show. 

Any  form  of  educational  organization  that  expects  to 
be  strong  and  to  produce  good  results  must  keep  the  way 
clear  for  those  of  merit  and  capacity  to  rise  to  the  top,  and 
must  place  a  premium  on  executive  capacity  and  leadership. 
The  heavy  toll  paid  to-day  by  our  county  and  state  school 
systems,  where  a  political  rather  than  an  educational  basis 
for  the  selection  of  leaders  prevails,  and  where  a  prohibitive 
protective  tariff  in  the  form  of  a  local  residence  requirement 
is  levied  against  brains  and  competency  from  outside,  is  as 
yet  only  partially  appreciated  by  our  people.  The  unmistak- 
able administrative  experience  of  our  city  school  systems  is 
that  competency  and  politics  seldom  go  hand  in  hand.  An 
important  element  in  the  strength  of  our  city  school  districts 
has  been  their  freedom  to  go  anywhere  and  to  offer  any 
reasonable  inducements  to  draw  the  type  of  man  or  woman 
desired  for  some  form  of  special  or  executive  work. 


440  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Clear  and  unmistakable  lessons.  The  clear  and  unmis- 
takable lessons  to  be  drawn  from  a  study  of  our  city  school- 
district  administrative  experience  may  be  summarized  very 
briefly  as  follows :  — 

Large  units  for  educational  organization,  and  under  small 
responsible  legislative  boards  for  school  control;  executive 
officers,  carefully  selected,  retained  on  the  basis  of  compe- 
tency and  executive  skill,  and  clothed  with  power  commen- 
surate with  their  responsibilities;  the  provision  of  a  special- 
ized type  of  instruction,  only  possible  under  large  units  of 
organization  and  administration,  with  many  differentia- 
tions to  meet  individual  and  community  needs;  carefully 
selected  and  placed  teachers,  under  good  educational  super- 
vision, and  organized  as  a  part  of  a  large  professional  or- 
ganization; business  and  clerical  organization  for  large 
units,  centralized  under  responsible  administrative  officers, 
with  the  elimination  of  the  unintelligent  service  and  waste 
that  comes  from  small-unit  business  transactions;  large 
and  specialized  school-buildings,  well  adapted  to  modern 
educational  needs,  and  under  competent  care  and  super- 
vision; the  pooling  of  both  the  burdens  and  the  advantages 
of  education  on  a  large  scale,  and  with  no  excessive  burdens 
or  meager  educational  advantages  for  any  part  of  the  city 
school  district;  and,  finally,  by  selecting  its  experts  on  a 
professional  rather  than  a  political  basis,  and  with  freedom 
to  bargain  anywhere  for  brains  and  competency,  the  pro- 
vision for  that  leadership  and  directive  insight  at  the  top 
without  which  no  school  system  can  expect  to  prosper  and 
develop  along  strong  lines. 

Having  briefly  summarized  the  lessons  to  be  drawn  from 
city -district  administrative  experience,  let  us  now  see  in  how 
far  such  principles  may  be  applied  to  county  and  state 
educational  organization. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

City  and  county  administration  contrasted.  When  we 
pass  from  a  study  of  the  best  principles  of  educational  or- 
ganization and  administration,  as  represented  by  our  city 
school-district  development,  to  the  conditions  existing  in 
the  counties  of  most  of  our  States,  the  contrast  is  marked  in 
all  that  relates  to  efficient  educational  organization  and 
administration.  In  over  one  half  of  our  States  (see  map, 
page  51)  the  form  of  organization  and  administration  in 
use  is  based  on  the  school  district  as  the  administrative 
unit,  and  in  a  number  of  other  states  the  township  or  some 
form  of  district  grouping  is  in  use.  Instead  of  a  coimty 
school  system,  analogous  to  a  city  school  system  in  edu- 
cational organization  and  administrative  effectiveness,  and 
which  by  analogy  with  all  other  forms  of  county  public 
business  we  might  expect  to  be  the  natural  form,  we  find 
instead  an  unnecessarily  large  number  of  unnecessarily 
small  administrative  units,  ^  each  under  the  administrative 
control  of  a  local  board  of  district  trustees,  and  but  loosely 
bound  together  in  a  county  educational  organization.  In 
many  of  our  States  these  district  boards  of  trustees  possess 
so  much  power,  and  the  county  superintendent  such  small 
power,  that  the  county  oversight  exists  largely  in  name. 
Often,  too,  these  local  boards  of  trustees  carry  on  their 
work  with  so  little  unity  of  purpose  and  so  little  conception  of 

^  By  a  proper  reorganization  the  schools  of  almost  any  rural  county 
which  is  at  all  well  settled  could  be  taught  better,  by  such  a  reorganization 
as  is  here  proposed,  and  with  a  saving  of  from  twenty  to  thirty-five  per 
cent  of  the  present  number  of  teachers. 


442  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  meaning  of  efficient  educational  service  that  the  schools 
are  inefficient,  limited  in  scope  and  outlook,  poorly  adapted 
to  modern  educational  needs,  poorly  taught  and  still  more 
poorly  supervised,  and  far  more  costly  than  there  is  any 
reason  for  their  being. 

District  trustee  controL  Instead  of  the  rural  and  vil- 
lage schools  of  a  county  being  an  educational  unit,  as  is  the 
case  in  the  cities,  the  schools  in  the  counties,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  represent  a  decentralization  in  educational  ad- 
ministration which  must  inevitably  result  in  an  inefficient 
type  of  educational  and  community  service.  Instead  of 
one  board  of  education  working  at  the  problem,  and  pro- 
ducing a  unified  educational  organization  and  educational 
administration  for  the  whole  county,  we  find  from  ten  to 
twenty  different  boards  in  the  township-system  States,  and 
from  thirty  to  two  hundred  different  boards  in  the  district- 
system  States,  each  working  at  the  problem  in  its  own  way. 
Between  these  different  boards  there  is  unity  of  purpose  only 
in  so  far  as  it  is  imposed  by  the  general  school  laws  of  the 
State,  and  by  a  very  limited  type  of  oversight  which  the 
county  superintendent  of  schools  is  permitted  to  exercise. 

Each  board  works  at  the  problem  in  about  the  same  lim- 
ited way,  and  each  produces  about  the  same  limited  and 
unsatisfactory  educational  result.  The  schools  lack  in  num- 
bers, interest,  and  enthusiasm.  The  teachers  are  often  inexpe- 
rienced and  poorly  trained,  and  the  conditions  surrounding 
living  in  the  districts  and  work  in  the  district  schools  are 
not  such  as  to  retain  for  long  the  services  of  capable  teach- 
ers. The  supervision,  in  so  far  as  it  comes  from  the  county, 
is  clerical  and  statistical  rather  than  personal  and  helpful; 
and  in  so  far  as  it  comes  from  the  trustees  is  unintelligent 
to  a  high  degree.  The  schools  are  so  small  and  so  expensive, 
and  the  number  of  children  tributary  to  each  is  so  small, 
that  no  speciaUzation  of  work  is  possible  within  the  school. 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  443 

High-school  advantages  are  often  entirely  lacking,  while 
cooperation  for  any  other  form  of  educational  effort,  such 
as  district  supervision,  special  teachers  and  instruction, 
health  supervision,  or  an  agricultural  high  school,  is  so  dif- 
ficult of  attainment  as  to  be  practically  impossible.  Even 
the  consolidation  of  districts  to  form  larger  consolidated 
graded  schools,  concerning  the  educational  advantages  of 
which  so  much  has  been  written  within  the  past  quarter  of 
a  century,  has  been  found  to  be  almost  impossible  of  attain- 
ment in  the  district-system  States,  —  due  largely  to  the 
conservation  and  inertia  of  these  boards  of  district  school 
trustees  and  the  rural  people  whom  they  represent. 

Financially  the  districts  represent  entirely  too  small  a 
taxing  area,  and  the  cost  for  good  rural  schools  is  in  conse- 
quence high.  If  any  large  dependence  for  support  is  made 
upon  district  taxation,  the  money  provided  for  annual  main- 
tenance is  usually  so  limited  that  only  a  poor  and  inadequate 
rural  school,  taught  by  a  cheap  teacher  and  offering  a  type 
of  education  but  little  suited  to  rural  needs,  can  be  main- 
tained. The  type  of  school-building  erected  and  maintained 
by  these  district  trustees  is  too  often  only  a  miserable  make- 
shift, being  cheap  in  construction,  with  poor  lighting  ar- 
rangements, no  place  for  special  types  of  work,  and  almost 
no  sanitary  arrangements.  The  teaching  supplies  provided 
are  often  inadequate,  and  under  the  system  of  district  pur- 
chasing are  far  more  expensive  than  they  should  be.  The 
many  educational  and  financial  advantages  which  the 
cities  enjoy,  due  to  their  ability  to  shift  books  and  teach- 
ing equipment  from  room  to  room  and  building  to  building, 
are  entirely  lost  to  our  rural  schools  imder  the  district  sys- 
tem of  organization. 

Need  for  a  fundamental  reorganization.  The  district 
system  of  organization  and  administration,  and  to  a  certain 
degree  the  township  system  as  well,  is  no  longer  adapted 


444  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

to  meeting  the  educational  needs  of  the  present  and  the 
future.  The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  both  were 
described  more  at  length  in  Chapter  V,  and  the  absolute 
inadequacy  of  the  district  system  in  particular,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  the  township  system  also,  to  provide  a  type 
of  education  for  rural  and  village  communities  suited  to 
modern  educational  needs  was  there  pointed  out.  As  a  sys- 
tem of  school  organization  the  district  unit  has  done  its 
work,  and  it  should  be  abandoned  in  favor  of  a  unit  more 
in  harmony  with  modern  business  methods  and  one  better 
calculated  to  serve  the  educational  needs  of  rural  people. 
Nothing  short  of  a  fundamental  reorganization  and  redirec- 
tion of  rural  and  village  education,  and  along  lines  dictated 
by  the  best  of  city  administrative  experience,  can  transform 
these  schools  into  the  type  of  educational  and  social  institu- 
tions demanded  by  our  present-day  rural  life  needs. 

This,  however,  can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  appli- 
cation to  the  problem  of  a  larger  type  of  administrative 
organization  and  experience  than  that  represented  by  dis- 
trict or  township  control.  Rural  and  village  education 
needs  to  be  unified  as  to  organization  and  administration, 
expanded  in  scope,  and  redirected  and  differentiated  as  to 
purpose,  and  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by  organizing 
with  larger  administrative  units,  and  by  placing  our  rural 
and  village  schools  under  some  authority  of  larger  grasp  and 
insight  than  the  district  school  trustee.  The  township  unit 
is  an  improvement  over  the  district  unit  for  organization  and 
maintenance,  but  for  many  purposes  it  is  poorly  adapted  to 
community  or  administrative  needs.  A  much  better  unit 
is  the  county,  which  is  used  for  almost  all  other  forms  of 
public  business,  and  for  which  a  more  or  less  rudimentary 
form  of  educational  organization  already  exists  everywhere 
outside  of  Nevada  and  the  six  New  England  States.  In 
these  seven  States,  and  possibly  in  two  or  three  others,  the 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  445 

State  seems  to  be  the  probable  future  unit  for  all  large 
administrative  control.  Elsewhere  the  county  forms  a 
natural  administrative  unit. 

Rudimentary  county-unit  organizations.  When  we  turn 
from  the  district  or  the  township  to  the  county,  we  find  that 
the  beginnings  of  a  county  unit  for  organization  and  ad- 
ministration have  been  made  in  most  of  our  States  by  the 
creation  of  the  office  of  county  superintendent  of  schools, 
and  in  some  States  a  county  board  of  education  of  some  type 
has  also  been  provided  for.  The  evolution  of  such  an  offi- 
cer and  such  boards  was  traced  in  Chapter  IV,  and  some  of 
the  new  demands  upon  them  were  there  stated.  These  offi- 
cers and  boards  represent  the  beginnings  of  county-unit  or- 
ganization and  administration,  but  in  most  of  our  States, 
viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  a  good  county-unit  type  of 
administrative  control,  they  exist  as  yet  as  undeveloped  and 
somewhat  rudimentary  offices  and  boards.  The  trouble 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  county  office  so  far  has  been  politi- 
cal rather  than  educational  in  character,  and  that  these 
county  boards  have  not  as  yet  become  real  governing  edu- 
cational bodies.  Perhaps  the  most  serious  difficulty  is  to  be 
found  in  the  conditions  which  at  present  surround  the 
county  educational  office. 

The  county  superintendency.  In  twenty-nine  of  the 
forty-one  States  having  a  county  educational  officer  he  is 
elected  by  the  people  of  the  county,  at  popular  elections. 
In  eighteen  of  the  twenty -nine  States  he  is  elected  for  but 
two-year  terms,  and  in  two  of  the  eighteen  he  is  by  the  law 
or  the  constitution  made  ineligible  for  more  than  four  years 
in  the  office.  In  other  words,  the  county  superintendent 
of  schools,  a  person  who  by  all  analogy  with  city  school- 
district  administrative  experience  ought  to  enter  the  work 
as  a  life  career,  and  with  the  idea  of  becoming  a  leader  in  his 
profession,  is  by  the  people  of  our  counties  still  regarded 


446  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

merely  as  a  political  officer  and  clerk,  and  the  old  political 
principle  of  rotation  in  office  is  applied  to  the  position. 

Instead  of  each  county  selecting  this  officer  in  the  mar- 
kets of  the  whole  nation,  so  as  to  secure  trained  and  experi- 
enced men  for  the  work,  the  market  is  limited  to  each  county, 
and  the  prospective  superintendent  must  instead  hunt  the 
office  by  means  of  a  political  campaign.  He  must  first  become 
a  resident  of  the  county  and  a  voter,  must  then  slowly 
work  up  in  the  party  ranks  and  make  acquaintances,  in  order 
to  get  in  line  for  the  nomination,  and  then,  if  finally  suc- 
cessful, must  stump  the  county  against  an  opponent,  paying 
his  political  assessments  and  campaign  expenses,  —  always 
with  the  risk  of  defeat,  and  all  for  the  sake  of  a  temporary 
political  job.  In  states  where  the  primary  has  been  intro- 
duced he  must  usually  win  two  elections  instead  of  one, 
and  every  alternate  year  must  waste  about  six  months  of 
his  time  and  possible  educational  efficiency. 

Why  trained  men  go  to  the  cities.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
the  office  of  county  superintendent  does  not  attract  the  best 
men  in  the  teaching  profession,  and  that  but  little  prog- 
ress in  county  educational  organization  and  administration 
along  sound  lines  has  so  far  been  made.  Good  men  can  sell 
their  services  in  a  better  market.  The  low  salaries  paid, 
the  expense  of  securing  the  office,  the  public  notoriety,  the 
humiliation  of  defeat,  the  short  tenure  of  office,  the  high 
protective  tariff  levied  against  brains  and  competency  from 
the  outside  by  the  local  residence  requirement,  and  the  in- 
ability to  accomplish  much  in  states  where  the  superintend- 
ent has  the  district  system  to  deal  with,  all  tend  to  keep  the 
best  men  out  of  the  office.  The  position  of  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools  is  one  of  much  potential  importance,  but 
not  until  our  counties  do  as  our  cities  long  ago  did,  and  stop 
electing  their  superintendents  by  popular  vote,  can  the 
office  be  made  much  more  than  a  political  job  offering  but 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  447 

temporary  employment  to  the  few  who  are  willing  to  con- 
sider political  candidacy. 

The  clear  and  unmistakable  lesson  of  our  city  school  dis- 
tricts in  the  matter  of  employing  school  superintendents, 
and  of  all  professional  work  and  business  enterprise  in  the 
matter  of  securing  experts  for  any  type  of  skilled  work,  is 
that  thoroughly  competent  men  are  seldom  secured  by  the 
political  method.  Before  our  communities  can  hope  to  have 
schools  which  for  country  and  village  children  are  as  good  as 
the  cities  provide  for  their  children,  they  must  provide  some 
better  plan  for  securing  leaders  for  their  educational  service. 
Once  take  the  oflace  of  county  superintendent  of  schools  out 
of  politics,  making  it  appointive  instead  of  elective;  once 
open  it  up  to  the  competition  of  the  whole  country,  as  high- 
school  principalships  and  city  superintendencies  have  been; 
and  once  base  salary,  tenure,  and  promotion  on  training, 
competency,  and  efficient  service;  and  the  office  of  county 
superintendent  of  schools  will  offer  a  career  and  an  oppor- 
tunity for  constructive  rural  service  for  which  a  man  or 
woman  would  be  warranted  in  making  long  and  careful 
preparation. 

The  way  out.  To  provide  properly  for  the  administration 
of  rural  and  village  education  and  to  furnish  the  kind  of 
instruction  and  supervision  children  in  such  schools  ought 
to  enjoy,  demands  that  the  lessons  learned  from  a  study 
of  city  school-district  administrative  experience  be  applied 
to  the  organization  and  administration  of  rural  and  village 
education.  This  demands  the  subordination  of  the  district 
system,  and  probably,  in  part,  the  township  system  also; 
the  erection  of  the  county  as  the  unit  for  school  organization 
and  administration,  cities  under  city  superintendents  of 
schools   being   exempted  from  the  county  organization;  ^ 

1  Another  plan,  tried  in  a  few  places,  is  to  have  the  city  board  and 
superintendent  include  all  of  the  county  schools  as  a  part  of  the  city 


448  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  the  complete  elimination  of  party  politics  from  the 
management  of  the  schools.  Long  ago  our  cities  abolished 
their  districts,  began  to  manage  their  schools  as  a  unit,  and 
did  away  with  the  plan  of  selecting  a  superintendent  from 
among  the  body  of  the  electorate,  and  not  until  our  counties 
introduce  some  such  unit  system  into  their  educational  or- 
ganization can  there  be  a  proper  and  economical  coordina- 
tion in  rural  and  village  educational  effort.  For  the  pleasure 
of  electing  a  horde  of  unnecessary  trustees  ^  and  voting  for 
another  county  officer,  the  people  have,  as  a  consequence, 
an  unnecessary  number  of  small,  costly,  and  inefficient  rural 
schools,  poorer  teachers  than  is  necessary,  inadequate  and 
often  unsuitable  instruction,  and  supervision  that  is  usually 
little  more  than  a  name. 

If  our  rural  and  village  schools  are  to  contribute  any- 
thing worth  while  to  the  solution  of  our  pressing  rural-life 
problem  and  to  render  any  really  worthy  community  ser- 
vice, rural  school  administration  and  supervision  must  be 
put  on  as  high  a  professional  plane  as  is  city  school  admin- 
istration and  supervision.  This  demands  a  form  of  educa- 
tional organization  somewhat  analogous  to  that  developed 
as  a  result  of  fifty  years  of  work  on  the  problem  of  city 
school  organization.  That  will  be  one  small  central  county 
board  of  education,  composed  of  laymen,  to  replace  the 
many  district  boards;  the  reorganization  of  the  small, 
scattered,  costly,  and  inefficient  rural  schools  into  a  much 
smaller  number  of  efficient,  graded,  and  centrally  located 
community-center  schools,  with  high  schools  attached  or 
organization.  Where  the  county  is  small  this  plan  might  work  fairly  sat- 
isfactorily, though  where  the  city  problems  are  large  and  important  the 
tendency  probably  would  be  to  neglect  the  rural  problems. 

^  In  some  of  the  States  of  the  upper  Mississippi  Valley,  using  the  district 
system,  from  30,000  to  45,000  district  school  trustees  are  elected  by  the 
people  to  control  the  schools  employing  but  one  third  that  number  of  teach- 
ers, and  spending  less  for  annual  maintenance  than  is  spent  in  a  city  such 
as  Boston,  which  has  a  board  of  education  of  five. 


[zm 


Fio.  36.     COUNTT-UNTT  EDDCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  449 

accessible  for  all,  and  with  instruction  better  suited  to  the 
needs  of  rural  children;  and  the  institution  of  a  form  of 
professional  supervision  that  is  as  close  and  as  effective  as 
that  which  our  city  schools  to-day  enjoy.  Such  a  plan  in- 
volves a  somewhat  simple  administrative  reorganization 
in  each  county,  and  for  such  we  have  not  only  the  example 
of  our  cities,  but  also  excellent  examples  in  the  county-unit 
school  systems  of  such  states  as  Maryland,  Florida,  Geor- 
gia, Louisiana,  and  Utah.^ 

Details  of  a  county-unit  plan.  Good  principles  of  edu- 
cational organization  and  administration  would  indicate 
approximately  the  following  as  a  desirable  form  for  county 
educational  reorganization :  — 

I.  General  control. 

1.  The  consolidation,  for  purposes  of  administration,  of  all 
schools  in  a  county,  outside  of  cities  having  city  superin- 
tendents of  schools,  into  one  county  school  district. 

2.  The  election  of  a  county  board  of  education  of  five  rep- 
resentative citizens,  from  the  county  at  large  and  for 
five-year  terms,  the  first  board  however  to  so  classify 
themselves  that  the  term  of  one  shall  expire  each  year 
thereafter.  This  board  to  occupy  for  the  schools  of  the 
county  approximately  the  same  position  as  a  city  board 
of  education  does  for  a  city. 

3.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  seek  out  and  elect  a 
well-trained  professional  expert  to  act  as  a  county  super- 
intendent of  schools,  and  to  fix  his  salary.  Such  officer  to 
enjoy  approximately  the  same  tenure,  rights,  and  privi- 
leges as  a  city  superintendent  of  schools,  and  to  have 

^  In  Chapter  X  of  the  author's  Rural  Life  and  Education,  drawings  show- 
ing a  number  of  counties  before  and  after  reorganization  are  given;  while 
in  Appendix  D  of  the  author's  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization, 
a  county  containing  a  city,  five  towns,  and  one  hundred  and  three  rural 
districts  is  shown  in  one  drawing,  and  in  another  as  reorganized  into  one 
city  school  district  and  one  county-unit  school  district,  the  latter  subdi- 
vided into  fourteen  attendance  sub-districts,  with  a  graded  consolidated 
school  and  a  partial  or  complete  high  school  attached  in  each.  Full  sta- 
tistics as  to  teachers,  costs,  and  tax  rates  for  this  county  are  also  given. 


450  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

somewhat  analogous  administrative  and  supervisory  duties 
and  responsibilities. 

4.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  hold  title  to  all  school 
property,  outside  of  separately  organized  city  school  dis- 
tricts, with  power  to  purchase,  sell,  build,  repair,  and  in- 
sure school  property. 

5.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  act  also  as  the  board 
of  control  for  any  county  high  schools,  county  vocational 
schools,  county  agricultural  high  schools,  and  the  county 
library,  and  to  have  power  to  order  established  such  types 
of  special  schools  as  may  seem  necessary  or  desirable. 

6.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  be  directed  to  order  a 
careful  educational  and  social  survey  of  its  county,  and 
upon  the  basis  of  such  to  proceed  to  reorganize  the  school 
system  of  the  county  by  abolishing  all  unnecessary  small 
schools,  substituting  therefore  a  few  centrally  located  and 
graded  consolidated  schools,  with  partial  or  complete  high 
schools  attached,  and  to  transport  children  to  and  from 
these  central  schools.  Each  such  school  and  its  tributary 
territory  to  be  known  as  an  attendance  subdistrict,  the 
bounds  of  which  may  be  changed  from  time  to  time  as  in 
the  case  of  city  attendance  lines. 

7.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  have  power  to  appoint, 
either  alone  or  in  cooperation  with  a  city  school  district,  or 
some  adjoining  county  school  district,  a  school  health 
officer,  a  school  attendance  officer,  and  such  other  special 
officers  or  supervisors  as  the  educational  needs  of  the  county 
school  district  may  seem  to  require,  and  to  establish  or 
join  in  the  establishment  of  special-type  schools. 

II.  Educational  control. 

1.  Each  county  school  district  to  be  managed  as  an  educa- 
tional and  financial  unit  by  the  county  board  of  education 
and  its  executive  officers.  Cities  contained  within  the 
county,  which  maintain  a  full  elementary  and  secondary 
school  system,  employing  a  certain  number  of  teachers 
(for  example,  twenty-five)  and  a  city  superintendent  of 
schools,  may  ask  for  and  obtain  a  separate  educational 
organization,  except  that  all  general  school  laws  of  the 
State  shall  apply,  and  that  the  county  school  tax  shall  be 
levied  uniformly  on  all  property  within  the  county. 

2.  On  the  recommendation  of  the  county  superintendent  of 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  451 

schools,  each  county  board  of  education  is  to  appoint  all 
principals  and  teachers  for  the  different  schools  of  the 
county,  outside  of  the  separately  organized  city  school 
districts,  and  to  fix  and  order  paid  their  salaries. 

3.  On  the  recommendation  of  the  county  superintendent  of 
schools,  each  county  board  of  education  is  to  approve  the 
courses  of  study  and  textbooks  to  be  used  in  the  schools, 
the  unit  for  the  adoption  of  each  being  the  unit  of  super- 
vision. 

4.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  approve  the  employ- 
ment of  special  teachers  and  supervisors  for  the  schools, 
and,  on  recommendation  of  the  county  superintendent  of 
schools,  to  appoint  them,  and  to  fix  and  order  paid  their 
salaries. 

5.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  have  charge  of  the 
county  library,  and  all  of  its  branches,  to  appoint  a  county 
librarian  and  assistant  librarians,  and  to  provide  for  the 
care  and  development  of  the  library  and  the  circulation 
of  books.  The  school  libraries  would  become  a  part  of  the 
county  library,  and  a  branch  library  would  be  provided 
for  in  connection  with  most  of  the  consolidated  schools. 

///.  Business  and  Clerical  Control. 

1.  Each  county  board  of  education  shall  appoint  a  secretary 
and  business  manager,  who  shall  act  as  secretary  for  the 
board  and  shall  have  charge  of  the  clerical,  statistical,  and 
financial  work  connected  with  the  administration  of  the 
schools  of  the  county  school  district.  He  is  to  approve  all 
warrants  drawn  on  the  funds  of  the  county,  and  to  prepare 
the  financial  and  statistical  portions  of  the  required  annual 
school  report. 

2.  The  secretary  of  the  county  board  of  education  to  have 
general  charge  of  all  purchases  of  supplies  for  the  schools 
and  the  distribution  of  the  same,  and  to  have  general 
oversight  of  all  janitor  service  and  repair  work,  except  as 
otherwise  provided  for  by  the  county  board  of  education. 

3.  For  each  consolidated  school  or  small  school  retained 
(attendance  subdistrict)  the  county  board  of  education  to 
appoint  one  local  school  director,  to  act  as  agent  of  the 
county  board  in  the  attendance  subdistrict,  and  with 
power  to  make  repairs  as  directed,  see  that  the  necessary 
supplies  are  provided,  assist  the  principal  or  teachers  in 


452  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  maintenance  of  discipline,  and  act  as  a  means  of  com- 
munication between  the  people  whose  children  attend  the 
school  and  the  county  board  of  education  and  its  execu- 
tive officers. 

4.  The  secretary  of  each  county  board  of  education  to  be  the 
custodian  of  all  legal  papers  belonging  to  the  county  school 
district;  to  approve  all  bills  and,  when  such  have  been 
ordered  paid,  to  draw  warrants  for  the  same;  to  give  all 
required  notices;  administer  oaths;  sign  contracts  as  di- 
rected by  the  board;  register  all  teachers'  certificates; 
distribute  blank  forms  and  collect  and  tabulate  the  sta- 
tistical returns;  keep  a  complete  set  of  books  covering  all 
financial  transactions  and  all  funds ;  and  perform  such  other 
clerical  and  statistical  functions  as  he  may  be  directed  to  do. 

5.  Each  county  board  of  education  to  approve  an  annual 
budget  of  expenses  for  the  schools  of  the  county,  both  for 
school  maintenance  and  for  buildings  and  repairs,  and  may 
order  levied,  within  certain  legal  limits,  a  county  school 
district  tax  to  supplement  the  funds  received  from  the 
state  school  tax  and  the  county  school  tax,  the  latter  to  be 
levied  on  all  property  in  the  county  and  divided  between 
the  city  school  district  and  the  county  school  district  on 
some  equitable  apportionment  basis.  ^ 

6.  Each  county  treasurer  to  act  as  treasurer  for  all  city  or 
county  school  districts  in  his  county,  and  to  pay  out  all 
funds  on  the  orders  of  the  proper  city  or  county  school 
district  authorities,  when  approved  by  the  secretary  of  the 
county  board  of  education. 

IV.  Powers  and  duties  of  the  superintendent. 

In  addition  to  those  previously  enumerated,  the  county 
superintendent  of  schools  is: 
1.  To  act  as  the  executive  officer  of  the  county  board  of 
education,  and  to  execute,  either  in  person  or  through 
subordinates,  all  educational  policies  decided  upon  by  it. 

^  This  greatly  simplifies  and  equalizes  taxation.  Under  such  a  plan  there 
would  be  a  state  tax  (or  appropriation)  for  education,  a  general  county 
school  tax  levied  on  all  property  in  the  county,  and  then  such  city-district 
or  county-district  taxes  as  may  be  needed  to  supplement  the  amounts  re- 
ceived from  state  and  county  funds.  The  inequalities  of  the  present  small 
district  taxation  would  be  abolished,  and  a  pooling  of  effort  on  a  large  scale 
substituted  instead. 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  453 

2.  To  act  as  the  chief  educational  officer  in  the  county,  and 
as  the  representative  of  the  state  educational  authorities. 
To  this  end  he  shall  see  that  the  school  laws  of  the  State 
and  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  state  board  of  educa- 
tion are  carried  out. 

3.  To  have  supervisory  control  of  all  schools  and  libraries 
under  the  county  board  of  education,  and  general  super- 
visory control  of  all  officers  in  its  employ  (see  Figure  35), 
with  power  to  outline,  direct,  and  coordinate  their  work, 
and,  for  cause,  to  recommend  their  dismissal. 

4.  To  nominate  for  election,  and  when  elected  to  assign, 
transfer,  and  suspend  all  teachers  and  principals,  and,  for 
cause,  recommend  the  promotion  or  dismissal  of  such. 

5.  To  visit  the  schools  of  the  county,  to  advise  and  assist 
teachers  and  principals,  to  hold  teachers'  meetings  and 
institutes,  to  direct  the  reading  circle  work  in  his  county, 
and  to  labor  in  every  practicable  way  to  improve  educa- 
tional conditions  within  his  county. 

6.  To  act  as  the  agent  for  the  state  department  of  education 
in  the  examining  and  certificating  of  teachers,  and  to  de- 
cide, upon  appeal  to  him,  all  disputes  arising  within  the 
county  as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  school  law  or  the 
powers  and  duties  of  school  officers. 

7.  To  oversee  the  preparation  of  the  courses  of  study  and  to 
approve  the  same,  to  study  the  educational  work  done  in 
the  schools,  and  to  approve  for  purchase  all  text  and  sup- 
plemental books  and  all  apparatus  and  supplies. 

8.  To  recommend  changes  in  the  distribution  or  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  schools,  to  recommend  the  establishment  of 
new  schools  or  branch  libraries,  and  to  assist  in  the  corre- 
lation of  the  work  of  the  schools  with  that  of  the  libraries, 
agricultural  activities,  and  other  forms  of  educational 
service. 

9.  To  prepare  and  issue  an  annual  printed  report  showing  the 
work,  progress,  and  needs  of  the  schools  of  the  county. 

Such  a  reorganization  not  easy.  To  inaugurate  such  a 
reorganization  will  require  that  the  methods  of  three  gen- 
erations and  the  selfish  interests  of  individuals  and  com- 
munities will  need  to  be  overcome.  Such  a  fundamental 
reorganization,  too,  cannot  be  expected  to  come  through  the 


454  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

voluntary  cooperation  of  district  authorities,  upon  which  we 
have  so  far  placed  our  chief  hope.  District  authorities  are 
too  short-sighted,  and  know  too  Httle  as  to  fundamental  rural 
or  educational  needs.  Neither  can  we  expect  much  assist- 
ance from  the  average  politically-elected  county  superin- 
tendent. The  system  of  which  he  is  a  product  too  often  to 
him  seems  a  sacred  system,  and,  in  the  district-system  States, 
he  is  too  afraid  of  the  enemies  he  may  make  in  the  districts, 
and  the  opportunities  he  may  give  an  opponent  to  defeat 
him  for  reelection,  to  render  much  service  looking  to  any 
fundamental  reorganization  of  rural  education. 

Steps  in  the  process.  The  necessary  reorganizations  are 
of  such  a  fundamental  character  that  they  will  have  to  be 
superimposed  from  above,  sweeping  away  from  before 
them  the  opposition  of  both  county  and  district  school  of- 
ficials.  The  State,  in  the  exercise  of  its  inherent  right  to 
demand  constructive  reforms,  must  demand  a  reorganiza- 
tion of  rural  education  which  will  create  a  system  adapted 
to  modern  rural  educational  needs,  one  under  which  busi- 
ness can  be  transacted  in  a  modern  manner,  and  one  under 
which  rapid  progress  along  modern  lines  will  be  possible. 

The  steps  in  the  process  will,  in  all  probability,  be  those 
we  have  just  outlined.  The  district  system  of  school  or- 
ganization and  administration,  with  its  horde  of  unintelli- 
gent trustees,  will  need  to  be  swept  aside  for  a  county  unit 
of  school  organization  and  administration.  The  township, 
as  an  intermediate  stage,  might  be  an  improvement  over 
the  district,  but  it  is  too  small,  and  it  is  not  well  adapted 
to  the  real  needs  of  the  situation.  The  many  boards  of  dis- 
trict school  trustees  should  be  abolished  and  a  sub-district 
school  director,  with  very  limited  powers,  substituted  to  act 
as  an  agent  and  representative  of  the  county  board  of  edu- 
cation. Lay  county  boards  of  education,  elected  by  the 
people  to  represent  them  in  matters  of  educational  policy, 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  455 

procedure,  and  finance,  should  be  provided  to  select  the 
educational  experts  who  are  to  organize  and  direct  the  new 
kind  of  county  educational  system;  while  county  reorgani- 
zation commissions  will  be  needed  to  study  and  map  the 
counties  and  to  prepare  comprehensive  reorganization  plans, 
involving  the  counties  as  a  whole,  and  providing  for  second- 
ary as  well  as  elementary  education.  After  such  plans  have 
been  approved  by  state  authority,  they  should  be  ordered 
put  into  operation.  Counties  which  refuse  to  reorganize 
their  school  systems  on  a  proper  educational  basis,  and  to 
provide  properly  for  the  needs  of  their  children,  should  be 
penalized  by  a  reduction  of  the  apportionment  of  state 
funds  to  no  more  than  would  be  demanded  for  the  same 
educational  facilities  now  provided,  if  regrouped  under  a 
proper  educational  reorganization. 

After  a  few  years  of  operation  under  such  a  county-unit 
reorganization,  each  county  would  have  a  much  smaller 
number  of  community-center  consolidated  schools,  with 
partial  or  complete  high  schools  attached,  adequate  and 
professional  supervision  and  direction,  and  a  new  and  effec- 
tive type  of  rural  education.  What  now  seems  so  wonderful 
and  so  exceptional,  when  carried  through  here  and  there 
by  some  energetic  and  persuasive  county  superintendent, 
would  then  become  the  rule.  The  chief  right  of  which  the 
people  of  the  rural  districts  would  be  deprived  by  such  an 
interposition  of  the  State  would  be  the  right  to  continue 
to  mismanage  the  education  of  their  children. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

1.  "Why  is  it  that  cooperation  between  district  trustees  is  almost  im- 
possible to  obtain  for  any  improvement  in  educational  organization? 

2.  What  do  you  understand  to  be  meant  by  a  redirection  of  rural  edu- 
cation? 

3.  What  effect  does  the  short  tenure  of  oflace  of  county  superintendents 
of  schools  have  upon  their  independence? 


456  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

4.  What  effect  does  election  from  among  the  body  of  the  citizenship  have 
upon  the  salaries  of  county  superintendents? 

5.  (Why  is  it  impossible  for  the  district  system  of  organization  to  provide 
schools  for  rural  children  which  will  meet  present-day  rural  educa- 
tional needs? 

6.  Enumerate  the  advantages  of  a  county  imit  in  the  matter  of  employ- 
ing, placing,  and  paying  teachers. 

7.  The  larger  cost  for  a  good  consolidated  school  is  often  urged  as  an 
objection.  Which  is  the  more  expensive,  a  $1200  school  for  an  aver- 
age daily  attendance  of  15,  or  a  $12,000  school  for  an  average  daily 
attendance  of  130? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  Investigate  and  report  on  the  plan  of  organization  and  working  of 
the  coimty-unit  system  in 

(a)  Maryland.  (d)  Louisiana. 

(6)  Georgia.  (e)  Alabama, 

(c)   Utah.  (/)  Tennessee. 

2.  Find  how  many  district  school  trustees  are  needed  for  the  schools  in 
a  number  of  the  district-system  States. 

3.  Collect  the  tax  rates  for  the  different  school  districts  in  some  district- 
system  county,  and  show  the  distribution  in  rates  and  in  per-capita 
cost  for  schools  in  the  county. 

4.  Outhne  a  survey  of  some  rural  county,  showing  the  plan  of  work  and 
kind  of  information  desired,  such  as  would  need  to  be  made  for  a 
county  educational  reorganization  commission.  (Williams's  survey 
forms  a  good  type.) 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  The  Improvement  of  Rural  Schools.  76  pp.  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1912. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  problem  under  the  headings  of  "Money,"  "Organization," 
and  "Supervision." 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  Rural  Life  and  Education.  367  pp.  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  Boston,  1914.  Many  maps  and  illustrations. 

A  study  of  the  rural-school  problem  as  a  phase  of  the  rural-life  problem.  Chaptei 
XIV  describes  the  county-unit  system  of  Baltimore  County,  Maryland. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization.  257  pp. 
Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1914. 

The  essential'features  of  a  school  system  organized  according  to  good  administrative 
principles,  and  stated  in  the  form  of  a  constitution  and  school  code  for  the  hjT)otheti- 
cal  State  of  Osceola.   A  legal  statement  of  the  rural  organization  problem. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.,  and  Elliott,  E.  C.  State  and  County  School  Administra- 
tion. Vol.  I,  textbook;  vol.  ii,  source  book.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York, 
1915  and  1916. 


APPLICATION  TO  COUNTY  CONTROL  457 

The  source  book  reproduces  (Chapters  VII-X)  a  number  of  good  articles  bearing 
on  the  district  township,  and  county-unit  systems,  and  the  same  chapters  in  the 
textbook  state  the  principles  involved  in  the  proper  educational  administration  of  rural 

and  village  schools. 

^vans,  L.  B.  "The  County  Unit  in  Educational  Organization  in  Georgia"; 
in  Educational  Review,  vol.  ii,  pp.  369-73.    (April,  1896.) 

Describes  the  county-unit  system  as  found  in  Richmond  County,  Georgia. 
Knorr,  G.  W.   Consolidated  Rural  Schools,  and  the  Organization  of  a  County 
System.  99  pp.  Bulletin  no.  232,  Office  of  Experimental  Stations,  U.S. 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  1910. 

An  excellent  bulletin  on  consolidation  and  the  county  unit.  Contains  much  valuable 
data  as  to  costs. 

Monahan,  A.  C.  County-Unit  Organization  for  the  Administration  of  Rural 
Schools.  5Q  pp.  Bulletin  no.  44,  1914,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 

Describes  the  units  of  organization  and  the  existing  county-unit  systems,  and  con- 
tains a  good  description  of  the  working  of  the  county-unit  plan  in  Utah. 

Williams,  J.  H.  Proposed  Educational  Reorganization  of  San  Mateo  County, 
California.    Bulletin,  1916,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 

A  detailed  survey  of  a  rather  difficult  county,  showing  how  it  could  be  reorganized 
under  a  county-unit  system  with  a  marked  increase  in  educational  efficiency  and  a 
decrease  in  cost. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

APPLICATION  TO  STATE  EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION 

State  organization  undeveloped.  When  we  pass  from 
an  examination  of  county  educational  organization  to  state 
educational  organization,  and  examine  such  in  the  light  of 
the  best  of  our  city  administrative  experience,  we  also  find 
conditions  which,  in  most  of  our  States,  also  call  for  a  re- 
organization and  redirection  along  better  administrative 
lines.  In  most  of  our  States  the  office  of  chief  state  educa- 
tional officer  is  still  in  a  markedly  undeveloped  condition,  is 
statistical  and  clerical  to  a  high  degree,  and  the  office  has  for 
long  given  evidence  of  but  little  of  that  educational  states- 
manship which  is  based  only  on  a  careful  and  an  intelligent 
study  of  educational  conditions  and  administrative  needs. 
The  state  office,  instead  of  leading  the  way,  too  often  fol- 
lows. In  but  few  of  our  States,  too,  does  the  state  depart- 
ment of  education  or  the  office  of  state  superintendent  of 
public  instruction  exercise  anything  Hke  the  influence  which 
ought  to  attach  to  such  a  department  or  officer. 

The  chief  state  school  office.  The  chief  trouble  lies  not 
so  much  with  the  superintendents  themselves  as  with  the 
political  conditions  which  have  produced  them  and  which 
surround  their  office.  The  plan  of  selecting  the  chief  schooJ 
officer  for  a  State  on  a  basis  of  partisan  nomination  and 
election,  of  limiting  the  choice  to  citizens  of  the  State,  and 
of  rotating  the  office  around  among  the  electorate  at  fre- 
quent intervals,  has  effectively  prevented  any  large  de- 
velopment of  the  office  along  sound  administrative  lines. 
The  plan  of  nomination  and  election  from  among  the  body 


APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  459 

of  the  electorate  tends  to  bring  to  the  front  the  old,  ambi- 
tious, and  reasonably  successful  practitioner,  but  does  not, 
except  by  rare  chance,  tend  to  secure  the  services  of  a  pro- 
fessional expert  and  constructive  leader,  such  as  our  state 
school  systems  are  so  much  in  need  of  to-day. 

The  political  method  has  been  discarded  in  the  selection 
of  all  of  the  newer  state  experts  —  horticulturist,  entomolo- 
gist, geologist,  health  experts,  sanitary  experts,  highway 
engineers,  and  the  various  commission  experts  —  and  it 
should  be  discarded  in  the  educational  service  also.  The  chief 
state  educational  office  can  never  realize  its  possibilities  nor 
enlist  the  services  of  the  best  prepared  men  until  it  is  taken 
completely  out  from  under  the  incubus  of  partisan  politics, 
until  this  official  is  clothed  with  powers  commensurate  with 
the  responsibilities  of  the  position  and  freed  from  all  forms 
of  political  interference,  and  until  the  office  is  free  to  seek 
the  man  without  reference  to  any  other  condition  than 
competency  properly  to  fill  the  position.  The  clear  and 
unmistakable  lesson  to  be  drawn  from  a  study  of  city  school 
administrative  experience  is  that  political  nomination  and 
election  is  not  the  way  to  secure  competent  leadership  for  so 
important  an  educational  office. 

Potential  importance  of  the  office.  The  chief  educational 
office  to-day,  in  most  of  our  States,  offers  but  few  attractions 
to  any  one  who  is  properly  prepared  for  it,  and  the  result  is 
written  over  the  educational  history,  legislation,  and  ad- 
ministrative organization  of  most  of  our  American  States. 
While  our  cities  have  been  making  remarkable  progress  in 
organization  and  administration,  and  have  been  attracting 
to  their  service  the  best  prepared  men  and  women  engaged 
in  educational  work,  the  chief  state  educational  office  has 
grown  but  little  in  importance,  has  commanded  but  little 
real  influence  in  the  State,  has  been  given  but  limited 
powers  by  the  legislature,  and  often  has  been  avoided  by  the 


460  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

best-prepared  men  in  the  State.  The  oflBee,  at  least  poten- 
tially, as  was  stated  in  Chapter  III,  is  a  more  important 
office  than  that  of  president  of  the  state  university  of  the 
State;  that  it  is  not  such  actually  is  a  matter  of  common 
knowledge.  In  the  light  of  the  best  of  our  city  administra- 
tive experience,  in  the  light  of  other  state  experience  with 
scientific  experts  and  commissions,  and  in  the  light  of  the 
best  corporation  experience,  it  is  evident  that  the  office 
cannot  hope  to  become  one  of  large  educational  importance 
until  it  throws  off  the  political  incubus  under  which  it  still 
labors  in  nearly  three  fourths  of  our  American  States. 

State  departments  of  education.  In  Chapter  III  the  evo- 
lution of  the  chief  state  educational  officer  and  state  boards 
for  educational  control  were  briefly  traced,  and  some  of  the 
more  important  of  the  newer  educational  problems  facing 
such  officers  and  boards  were  stated.  Most  of  the  problems 
are  of  recent  origin,  and  they  are  rapidly  becoming  more 
important.  More  and  more  as  the  school  passes  from  a 
mere  teaching  institution  to  a  constructive  agent  of  democ- 
racy does  the  need  for  constructive  leadership  become  in- 
creasingly evident.  Some  of  our  States  are  beginning  to 
recognize  this  need  and,  within  the  past  decade  a  number 
of  state  educational  reorganizations  have  been  made,  the 
general  tendency  of  which  has  been  the  development  of 
stronger  and  better  organized  state  departments  of  educa- 
tion. 

Generally  speaking,  and  taken  as  a  whole,  and  disregard- 
ing individual  exceptions,  the  tendency  of  these  recent 
reorganizations  has  been  to  evolve  a  small  appointed  state 
board  of  education,  for  general  educational  control;  to  con- 
centrate the  different  functions  of  educational  control  in 
this  body,  instead  of  in  a  number  of  state  educational 
boards  of  various  types;  to  eliminate  ex  officio  boards  and 
officers;  to  change  the  state  school  officer  from  an  inde- 


APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  461 

pendently  elected  official  to  an  executive  officer  of  the  state 
board  of  education,  selected  and  appointed  by  it  and  re- 
sponsible to  it;  ^  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  a  num- 
ber of  educational  experts,  to  supervise  and  administer 
different  divisions  of  a  state  educational  department;  to 
clothe  all  of  these  officers  with  important  powers  and  duties 
and  responsibilities;  and  materially  to  enlarge  the  powers 
and  duties  of  this  state  educational  department  in  the  admin- 
istration and  supervision  of  the  school  system  of  the  State. 
In  other  words,  the  general  tendency  has  been  to  apply  to 
state  educational  organization  and  administration  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  intelligent  organization  and  adminis- 
tration so  far  evolved  by  our  cities  in  the  management  of 
their  schools. 

Controlling  principles.  An  application  of  the  best  prin- 
ciples of  city  school  organization  and  administration,  as 
well  as  the  best  principles  of  public  service  and  corporation 
control,  would  seem  to  indicate  the  following  as  sound 
principles  in  the  matter  of  state  educational  organization:  — 

/.  General  control. 

1.  There  should  be  a  state  board  for  educational  control,  con- 
sisting of  a  small  number  of  representative  citizens  of  the 
State,  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  and  for  relatively 
long  terms.  A  board  of  five  or  seven  members,  with  the 
term  of  one  expiring  each  year,  represents  in  many  respects 
a  desirable  form  of  organization. 

2.  In  making  appointments  to  such  a  board  the  sole  basis  for 
appointment  should  be  the  ability  to  serve  the  schools  of 
the  State,  and  without  reference  to  such  extraneous  con- 
siderations as  residence,  party  affiliation,  race,  sex,  reli- 
gious connections,  or  occupation. 

3.  There  should  be  no  ex  officio  members  on  the  board.  The 

^  In  many  of  our  States  this  is  not  possible  without  amending  the  state 
constitution,  and  in  a  number  of  the  recent  state  educational  reorganiza- 
tions such  a  change  was  not  made  largely  because  it  was  not  at  the  time 
possible. 


462  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

general  experience  with  such  members  is  that  they  are  not 
usually  helpful,  and  not  infrequently  they  interfere  se- 
riously with  efficiency.  The  governor,  as  the  appointing 
power,  and  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction  or  his 
equivalent,  as  the  executive  officer  of  the  board,  should 
in  no  case  be  made  members  of  it. 

4.  Members  of  the  state  board  should  be  paid  their  neces- 
sary traveling  expenses  in  attending  meetings,  but  should 
not  be  paid  a  per  diem  for  an  unlimited  number  of  days 
or  any  large  yearly  honorarium.  The  position  should  be  a 
distinct  honor  and  not  a  political  plum. 

5.  The  most  important  function  of  the  board  is  the  selection 
of  its  executive  officers,  —  the  commissioner  of  education,^ 
the  assistant  commissioners,  secretary,  business  manager, 
and  statistician.  In  making  all  such  appointments  the 
board  should  be  free  from  all  restrictions  as  to  residence, 
party,  race,  sex,  or  occupation,  their  only  purpose  being 
to  select  the  best  persons  obtainable  for  the  money  at 
hand.  They  should  also  be  as  free  to  determine  the  quali- 
fications, fix  the  salaries,  and  control  the  tenure  of  such 
officers  as  are  boards  of  trustees  of  universities  in  the 
matter  of  their  presidents  and  professors. 

6.  It  should  be  the  prime  function  of  such  a  board  to  hear 
reports  and  receive  recommendations  from  its  executive 
officers,  to  determine  policy,  to  direct  that  work  be 
undertaken,  to  appropriate  funds  for  specific  purposes 
or  undertakings,  to  stand  as  a  buffer  between  its  experts 
and  criticism  of  proper  actions,  to  approve  a  budget 
of  expenditures  and  to  ask  the  legislature  for  needed 
appropriations,  and  to  recommend  desirable  legislation  to 
the  legislature. 

7.  A  clear  distinction  between  what  is  legislative  and  hence 
a  function  of  the  board,  and  what  is  executive  work  and 
hence  a  function  of  its  executive  officers,  should  at  all 
times  be  kept  in  mind.  It  is  primarily  the  business  of  the 
board  to  legislate;  it  is  primarily  the  business  of  the  ex- 
perts it  employs  to  execute  what  has  been  decided  upon. 

1  This  title  has  been  substituted  for  superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
superintendent  of  education,  secretary  of  the  state  board,  or  other  equiva- 
lent title  in  all  the  recent  reorganizations  where  the  office  has  been  made 
appointive  by  the  state  board  of  education. 


APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  463 

//.  Educational  control. 

1.  Acting  through  its  executive  officers  the  board  should 
study  the  educational  conditions  and  needs  of  the  State, 
enforce  the  use  of  uniform  records  and  reports,  study  the 
effect  of  the  operation  of  the  educational  laws,  recommend 
needed  changes  to  the  legislature,  and  so  classify  and 
standardize  the  educational  work  and  institutions  of  the 
State  as  to  promote  their  efficiency,  harmonize  educational 
interests,  and  prevent  wasteful  duplication  of  work. 

2.  Acting  through  its  executive  officers  the  state  board  should 
have  general  oversight  and  supervision  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  public  school  system  of  the  State,  and  should 
maintain  constant  studies  of  its  operation  with  a  view  to 
its  improvement.  In  doing  so,  however,  both  the  board  and 
its  executive  officers  should  keep  clearly  in  mind  that  the 
prime  purpose  of  state  oversight  is  to  improve  the  service 
of  communities  to  the  children  under  their  control,  and 
that  state  uniformity  and  obedience  to  rules  and  regula- 

t  tions  are  of  far  less  importance  than  the  stimulation  of 
local  initiative.  Unity  in  essentials  and  much  liberty  in 
details,  and  the  attainment  of  results  rather  than  the 
following  of  any  set  plan,  should  be  kept  clearly  in  mind 
as  aims  in  state  educational  control. 
S.  Acting  through  an  examining  division  the  board  should 
certificate  all  teachers  for  the  schools  of  the  State,  and 
should  standardize  the  professional,  life,  normal  school, 
and  college  diplomas  from  other  States  in  terms  of  the 
standards  maintained  within  the  State. 

4.  In  cooperation  with  the  state  library,  and  as  a  board  of 
control  for  such,  the  state  board  of  education  should  aid 
in  the  establishment  of  county,  school,  and  traveling 
libraries. 

5.  In  cooperation  with  other  departments  of  the  state  govern- 
ment, the  state  board  should  assist  in  the  enforcement  of 
the  law^s  relating  to  schools,  health,  compulsory  education, 
child  labor,  and  child  welfare  throughout  the  State. 

6.  Through  a  division  of  special  education  the  board  should 
have  supervisory  control  of  the  educational  departments 
of  all  charitable,  penal,  and  reformatory  institutions  main- 
tained by  the  State,  with  power  to  make  rules  and  regula- 
tions concerning  the  management  of  the  same. 


464  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

///.  The  chief  state  school  officer. 

1.  As  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  state  system  of  public 

instruction  and  of  the  state  board  of  education,  he  should 
have  power  to  see  that  the  laws  relating  to  education  are 
enforced,  and  should  be  able  to  institute  proceedings  to 
give  force  to  laws,  or  to  rules  and  regulations  or  decisions 
made  in  conformity  with  law. 

2.  Acting  through  a  legal  division  he  should  have  power  to 
settle  all  controversies  arising  over  any  matter  within  the 
scope  of  the  powers  delegated  by  law  to  school  authorities, 
and  he  should  be  the  final  authority  in  the  interpretation 
of  the  meaning  and  intent  of  the  school  code,  and  methods 
of  procedure  under  it. 

3.  Acting  under  his  direction  should  be  a  number  of  assist- 
ants, as  heads  of  divisions,  each  appointed  upon  his  recom- 
mendation, as  are  heads  of  departments  in  a  university 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  president,  and  each 
charged  with  certain  duties  and  responsibilities. 

The  general  scope,  organization,  and  the  channels  of  ad- 
ministration of  such  a  state  educational  department  are 
shown  in  Figure  36. 

Purpose  of  such  an  organization.  The  prime  purpose  of 
such  an  educational  organization  is  the  creation  of  a  state 
department  of  education  along  the  lines  of  the  best  of  our 
administrative  experience,  one  analogous  in  authority  to 
our  more  recent  creations  in  other  branches  of  the  state 
service,  and  one  possessed  of  a  sufficient  number  of  trained 
workers  to  be  able  to  evolve  and  carry  out,  over  a  consid- 
erable period  of  time,  a  wise,  intelligent,  and  constructive 
state  educational  policy,  based  on  a  careful  study  of  condi- 
tions and  needs  within  and  the  best  of  administrative  prac- 
tices without  the  State.  The  evolution  of  such  a  conscious 
constructive  state  educational  policy,  the  awakening  of  sup- 
port for  it  among  the  leading  workers  and  citizens  of  the 
State,  and  the  gradual  carrying  of  it  into  effect  is  a  service 
of  prime  educational  importance. 

Such  a  guiding  state  educational  policy  is  seldom  evident 


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APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  465 

except  where  there  has  been  capable  and  continuous  leader- 
ship at  the  top,  and  it  is  here  that  our  States  have  been 
especially  weak.  In  the  study  of  their  educational  history 
there  is  little  evidence,  in  most  of  them,  of  any  well-thought- 
out  educational  policy  carried  out  over  any  long  period  of 
time.^  Legislation  has  been  remedial  and  of  a  patch- work 
type,  rather  than  constructively  reorganizing,  and  the  type 
of  educational  statesmanship  described  in  Chapter  XI  has 
been  conspicuous  chiefly  by  its  absence. 

State  administrative  problems.  There  are  numerous  dis- 
tinctively state  problems  in  the  organization  and  admin- 
istration of  public  education  which  should  challenge  the 
best  thinking  of  the  oflacers  of  a  state  educational  depart- 
ment. All  of  these  require  careful  study  and  years  of  wise 
educational  direction  before  much  in  the  line  of  visible  re- 
sults can  be  obtained.  Some  require  a  careful  adjustment 
of  state  oversight  to  local  conditions  and  needs.  A  mere 
enumeration  of  the  more  important  of  these  is  all  that  can 
be  given  here.  To  each,  however,  certain  fundamental  prin- 
ciples apply,  and  action  taken  contrary  to  these  fundamental 
principles  is  action  which  sooner  or  later  will  need  to  be 
reversed. 

These  special  state  problems  group  themselves  about  the 
questions  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  state  oversight  and 
control;  the  extension  of  educational  advantages;  proper 

^  Of  all  our  States,  Massachusetts  certainly  stands  forth  as  the  one 
which  shows  most  evidence  of  having  followed,  and  for  the  longest  time,  a 
somewhat  definite  policy  and  plan  in  dealing  with  the  cities  and  towns 
of  the  State.  Much  of  the  educational  progress  which  Massachusetts  has 
made,  and  made  with  little  or  no  state  aid  to  serve  as  a  stimulus  to  action, 
and  often  in  opposition  to  the  strong  conservatism  of  the  towns,  has  been 
due  to  this  relatively  well-thought-out  and  consistently  followed  state  edu- 
cational policy,  worked  out  by  the  eight  carefully  selected  leaders  who  have 
served  the  State  during  the  nearly  eighty  years  since  her  state  administra- 
tive history  really  began.  The  state  board  of  education  in  Massachusetts 
has  always  appointed  its  chief  executive  officer;  the  State  has  never  relied 
on  the  political  parties  to  provide  leaders  for  its  school  system. 


466  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

methods  in  taxation,  and  in  the  apportionment  of  school 
funds;  the  provision  of  adequate  professional  supervision 
for  all  schools;  the  best  subordinate  unit  or  units  for  local 
control;  the  large  social  and  educational  problems  surround- 
ing the  rural  and  the  village  school ;  industrial  and  vocational 
training;  the  material  equipment  of  schools;  health  and  san- 
itary control;  the  State  and  the  teacher;  the  State  and  the 
child;  and  the  relation  of  the  State  to  non-state  educational 
agencies. 

Each  of  these  major  problems  in  state  educational  organ- 
ization and  administration  deserves  special  study,  and  when 
clear  and  provable  principles  of  action  or  standards  of  re- 
quirement have  been  formulated,  such  should  be  of  much 
value  in  guiding  state  educational  authorities  in  the  admin- 
istrative control  of  the  school  system  of  the  State  and  in 
their  dealings  with  subordinate  administrative  units. 

The  State  to  establish  minima.  There  is  a  certain  de- 
markation  between  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  State  and 
the  powers  and  duties  of  communities  which  ought  to  be 
observed  in  all  educational  legislation  and  all  state  admin- 
istrative control.  This  line  of  demarkation  will  vary  some- 
what in  the  different  States,  according  to  the  degree  of 
educational  progress  already  made  and  the  peculiar  genius 
of  its  institutions,  and  also  with  the  type  of  subordinate 
administrative  unit  involved,  but  the  line  nevertheless  ex- 
ists in  all.  In  many  matters  —  such  as  the  kind  or  kinds 
of  schools  which  must  or  may  be  provided,  the  length  of 
school  term  which  must  be  maintained,  the  nature  of  the 
instruction,  standards  for  the  certification  of  teachers, 
school  supervision  to  be  required,  sanitary  standards  to  be 
maintained,  equipment  to  be  provided,  rates  and  forms  of 
taxation  to  be  imposed,  minimum  salaries  to  be  paid,  com- 
pulsion of  children  to  attend,  and  child-labor  laws  —  it  is 
essentially  the  duty  and  business  of  the  State  to  determine 


APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  467 

the  minimum  standards  which  will  be  permitted,  and  per- 
haps to  classify  communities  into  groups  and  require  dif- 
ferent minima  from  each,  but  leaving  to  any  community  the 
right  to  exceed  these  minima  if  it  desires  to  do  so. 

From  time  to  time,  as  different  educational  needs  and 
conditions  may  seem  to  require,  it  is  also  the  business  of  the 
State  to  raise  these  minima  for  any  or  all  of  the  groups,  and 
in  doing  so  the  State  should  always  act  on  the  basis  of  what 
is  best  and  now  possible  for  the  children  of  the  State  as  a 
whole,  rather  than  on  the  basis  of  what  the  poorer  com- 
munities can  do  or  provide.  Certain  communities  can  and 
ought  to  do  more  than  others,  and  this  should  be  kept 
clearly  in  mind  by  the  State. 

State  stimulation  vs.  state  uniformity.  The  common  ten- 
dency toward  an  unnecessary  state  uniformity,  which  too 
often  follows  any  centralization  of  authority  and  which  is 
so  stifling  to  community  acti\^ty,  should  be  carefully 
avoided  by  the  State.  To  give  large  liberty  to  communities 
in  non-essentials  and  in  the  choice  of  tools  by  means  of 
which  they  will  carry  out  the  state  purpose,  and  to  free  the 
larger  and  more  progressive  communities  from  a  uniformity 
perhaps  necessary  for  small  and  more  backward  communi- 
ties, ought  to  be  an  essential  featm-e  in  a  wise  state  educa- 
tional policy. 

To  keep  the  school  systems  of  the  different  city  and  county 
units  in  touch  with  community  needs  and  expressive  of  the 
best  community  wishes,  and  at  the  same  time  safeguard 
these  school  systems  from  direction  by  inefficient  hands;  to 
protect  the  schools  from  local  exploitation  and  neglect,  and 
at  the  same  time  preserve  them  from  the  deadening  rule  of 
a  state  bureaucracy ;  to  leave  to  the  city  and  county  school 
districts  as  large  liberty  in  matters  of  courses  of  study,  text- 
books, and  methods  of  work  as  is  consistent  with  the  secur- 
ing of  the  results  desired  by  the  State;  and  to  see  that  the 


468  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

local  school  systems  are  adequately  financed,  instead  of 
being  subordinated  to  the  more  pressing  demands  of  other 
city  departments  —  these  are  problems  of  first  importance 
in  the  relation  of  the  State  to  its  subordinate  educational 
units.  While  avoiding  bureaucracy  and  a  deadening  uni- 
formity in  non-essentials,  the  State,  as  the  guardian  of  the 
educational  rights  of  its  future  citizenship,  must  see  that 
local  governments  and  individuals  do  not  override  these  for 
local  or  political  or  selfish  ends. 

It  is  of  importance  that  a  state  department  of  education 
be  a  student  of  conditions  and  needs,  and  that  it  work 
constantly  to  stimulate  communities  to  new  and  desirable 
activity.  It  is  easy  for  state  department  officials  to  become 
inspectors;  it  is  much  more  difficult  for  them  to  rise  to  the 
higher  levels  of  leadership.  Yet  this  higher  level  of  leader- 
ship is  what  a  state  department  of  education,  as  represented 
by  its  state  board  of  education  and  all  of  its  executive 
officers,  should  primarily  represent.  The  State,  in  so  far  as 
it  represents  the' interests  of  the  education  of  its  children 
and  the  improvement  of  society  through  pubhc  educa- 
tion, should  become  an  active,  energetic  agent,  working 
constantly  and  intelligently  for  the  improvement  of  edu- 
cational conditions  throughout  the  State.  For  too  long  the 
State  has  been  rather  an  interpreter  of  statutes,  a  collector 
of  statistics  as  to  what  has  been  done,  and  a  passive  tax 
collector  and  distributor  of  funds  to  the  different  school 
districts.  A  study  of  the  results  of  half  a  century  of  city 
administrative  progress  points  out  clearly  the  need  of  a 
different  type  of  state  educational  organization  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  future  of  public  education  in  most  of  our  Amer- 
ban  States. 


APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  469 

QUESTIONS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

3.  What  are  the  actual  powers  and  duties  of  the  chief  school  officer  in 
your  State? 

2.  What  has  been  the  average  tenure  of  such  official?  The  longest 
tenure? 

3.  Does  the  legislative  history  covering  the  past  quarter-century  in  your 
State  give  evidence  of  a  well-thought-out  educational  policy?  Illus- 
trate. 

4.  Enumerate  the  different  bureaus,  departments,  and  commissions  in 
your  State,  which  now  employ  expert  service  on  the  basis  of  training 
and  competency. 

5.  Suppose  that  the  president  of  the  state  university  were  elected  by 
pohtical  nomination  and  election,  and  for  two-  or  four-year  terms 
from  among  the  body  of  the  citizenship,  with  the  usual  rotation  in 
office,  and  that  the  professors  were  appointed  from  among  the  citizens 
prominent  in  the  dominant  political  party.  What  would  be  the  result 
on  the  university? 

6.  Make  a  diagram  to  illustrate  the  form  of  state  educational  organiza- 
tion in  your  State,  and  contrast  it  with  Figure  36. 

7.  What  is  the  objection  to  laws  requiring  the  appointment,  as  members 
of  state  boards,  of  a  woman,  a  representative  of  labor,  or  equal  di- 
vision among  the  two  leading  political  parties? 

8.  What  is  the  advantage  in  leaving  the  state  board  of  education  free  to 
fix  the  salaries  of  all  its  experts,  instead  of  fixing  them  in  the  law?  Is 
there  any  reason  why  the  best  city  administrative  experience  should 
not  control  here? 

9.  Contrast  legislative  and  executive  functions,  with  reference  to  state 
board  control. 

10.  What  are  the  advantages  of  making  the  state  department  of  educa- 
tion a  court  of  final  appeal  as  to  the  meaning  and  intent  of  the  school 
code? 

11.  Should  a  state  board  of  education  or  a  state  department  ever  de- 
termine the  courses  of  study  for  the  schools  of  the  State?  Why? 

12.  Should  the  choice  of  textbooks  be  left  to  the  different  units  for  super- 
vision in  the  State  (city  or  county)  ?  Why? 

13.  Why  is  it  desirable  that  the  state  educational  department  should  be 
given  supervisory  oversight  of  the  educational  departments  of  all  char- 
itable, penal,  and  reformatory  institutions  in  the  State? 

TOPICS  FOR  INVESTIGATION  AND  REPORT 

1.  The  nature  and  extent  of  desirable  state  oversight  and  control. 

2.  To  what  extent  should  the  State  require  the  extension  of  educational 
advantages? 

S.  Best  methods  for  school  support,  and  the  extent  of  desirable  state  aid. 


470  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

4.  Best  methods  for  the  apportionment  of  state  and  county  school  funds. 

5.  Nature  and  extent  of  state  aid  for  secondary  education. 

6.  Desirability  of  small  subsidies  in  inaugurating  new  educational  work. 

7.  Best  method  of  securing  professional  supervision  for  rural  and  town 
schools,  which  shall  be  as  close  and  effective  as  for  city  schools. 

8.  State  control  of  the  certification  of  teachers. 

9.  Certification  of  teachers  by  examination  vs.  training. 

10.  Desirability  of  a  special  certificate  for  all  supervisors,  and  nature  of 
the  requirements  for. 

11.  Desirable  state  encouragement  of  industrial  and  vocational  training. 
£2.  The  degree  of  desirable  state  oversight  of  the  material  equipment  of 

the  schools,  including  school  buildings. 

13.  Same  for  health  and  sanitary  control. 

14.  The  state  normal  school  and  the  training  of  teachers  for  the  State. 

15.  The  high-school  teachers'  training-class. 

16.  DesirabiUty  of  requiring  some  form  of  state  reading-circle  work  of  all 
teachers. 

17.  The  State  and  the  teacher,  as  relates  to  salary  control,  tenure,  and 
pensions. 

18.  The  State  as  the  guardian  of  the  educational  rights  of  children. 

19.  The  State  and  non-state  educational  agencies. 

20.  State  inspection  and  control  vs.  state  leadership. 

21.  Desirable  state  minima. 

22.  Dangerous  state  uniformity. 

23.  State  stimulation  to  new  and  desirable  educational  activity. 

24.  Contrast  the  powers  and  methods  of  securing  progress  for  the  state 
educational  departments  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts. 

25.  Draw  up  a  desirable  form  of  state  educational  organization  for  your 
State,  and  estimate  its  cost  over  and  above  the  cost  for  the  present 
organization. 

SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Butler,  N.  M.  "Problems  of  Educational  Administration";  in  Educational 
Review,  vol.  32,  pp.  515-24.   (December,  1906.) 
The  larger  problems  of  educational  statesmanship- 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  "Fundamental  Problems  in  Educational  Administra- 
tion"; in  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  vol.  i,  pp. 
3-12.    (January,  1915.) 

States  the  fundamental  administrative  problems  involved  in  state  and  city  educa- 
tional administration. 

Cubberley,  E.  P.  State  and  County  Educational  Reorganization.  257  pp. 
Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1914. 

The  essential  features  of  a  school  system  reorganized  according  to  good  administra- 
tive principles,  stated  in  the  form  of  a  constitution  and  school  code  for  the  hypotheti- 
cal State  of  Osceola.  Chapter  I  outlines  the  state  department  of  education  in  detail. 


APPLICATION  TO  STATE  CONTROL  471 

Cubberley,  E.  P.,  and  Elliott,  E.  C.  State  and  County  School  Administra- 
tion. Vol.  I,  textbook;  vol.  ii,  source  book.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York, 
1915  and  1916. 

The  source  book  (Chapters  V  and  XI),  contains  a  number  of  articles  on  state  educa- 
tional organization  and  administration,  and  the  textbook  states  the  principles  in- 
volved in  proper  state  educational  organization. 

Finegan,  T.  E.  "Uniformity  of  Standards  in  School  Administration";  in 
Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  122-31. 

Supremacy  of  state  school  board  autonomy;  independent  maintenance;  and  general 
state  control.   A  state  centralization  point  of  view. 

Monahan,  A.  C.    Organization  of  State  Departments  of  Education.   46  pp. 
Bulletin  no.  5,  1915,  U.S.  Bureau  of  Education. 
Describes  present  state  organizations,  and  enumerates  the  present  state  staffs. 
Monroe,  Paul  (editor).    Cyclopedia  of  Education.    See  articles  on    "State 
Boards    of   Education,"    "State    Educational   Organization,"    and 
"State  School  Administration,"  in  vol.  v,  pp.  408-15. 

States  the  fundamental  principles  in  organization,  and  the  chief  problems  in  ad- 
ministrative control. 

Snedden,  D.  "Centralized  vs.  Localized  Administration  of  Public  Educa- 
tion"; in  his  Problems  of  Educational  Readjustment,  pp.  233-59. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1913. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages  of  state  centralization,  and  correctives  of  its  dis- 
advantages. 

Webster,  W.  C.    Recent  Centralizing  Tendencies  in  State  Educational  Ad- 
ministration.   78    pp.    Columbia  University  Studies  in  History  of 
Economics  and  Public  Law,  vol.  viii,  no.  2. 
An  old  but  valuable  sketch  of  tendencies. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Acceleration,  294. 

Accounting,     school,     408;     better 

methods,  417;  forms  for,  uniform, 

418. 
Adjustments  in  courses  of  study,  294. 
Administrative  experience,  city,  sum- 
marized, 433. 
Adult  instruction,  312. 
Annual  school  reports,  425. 
Art  schools,  special,  312. 
Assistant  superintendents,  220;  and 

the  superintendent,  187. 
Attendance,  effect  of  increased,  on 

promotion  rate,  361;  decline  after 

sixth  year,  370. 
Attendance  department.  The,  357; 

in  a  small  city,  359;  registration  of 

children,  362. 
Attitude  toward  schools,  early,  3. 
Auxiliary  educational  agencies,  397. 
"Average  Child,"  294. 

Baltimore  plan,  the,  307. 

Batavia  plan,  the,  301. 

Blind,  classes  for  the,  311. 

Board  members,  school,  types  of, 
111,  123;  rewards  for  faitliul  serv- 
ice, 125. 

Boards,  school,  for  school  control, 
85;  special  governing,  85;  con- 
tinuous and  changing,  110. 

Boards  of  education,  recent  reor- 
ganizations, 86;  tendencies  in 
reorganization,  87;  size  of,  90; 
basis  of  selection,  92;  selection  by 
wards  vs.  at  large,  92;  advantages 
of  small,  92;  appointment  v.s.  elec- 
tion, 95;  term  of  office,  97;  pay 
for  service,  90;  as  a  body,  109; 
conmaittee  form  of  control  by, 
112;  in  cities,  112,  113;  real  work 
of,  119;  legislative  vs.  executive 
functions  of,  119,  and  superin- 
tendent, proper  relations  of,  148. 


Bonding  for  school  buildings,  391. 
Budget,  a  better  school,  416. 
Building  costs,  391. 
Building,     school,     new     type     of, 

needed,  386;  Pittsburg  type,  387. 
Bureaucracy,  state,  dangers  of,  63. 
Business  department,  work  of,  376; 

purpose  of,  377,  379;  misdirection 

of,  378. 
Business  organization  of  cities,  437. 

Cabinet  solidarity,  185. 

Cambridge  plan,  the  new,  304. 

Census,  school,  362;  continuing, 
363. 

Charity  conception,  elimination  of, 
11. 

Cheap  school  system,  408. 

Cities,  size  and  distribution  of,  160; 
why  trained  men  go  to,  446. 

Citizen,  the,  and  schools,  103. 

City,  administrative  problems  in, 
prominence  of,  60;  distinctive 
contribution  of,  60;  vs.  State,  61; 
problems  of  relationship  with 
State,  63;  government  and  schools, 
102;  administrative  experience  of, 
summarized,  433;  an  educational 
unit,  433;  administrative  organ- 
ization of,  435;  supervisory  organ- 
ization of,  436;  business  organiza- 
tion and  finance,  437;  initiative 
and  educational  progress  in,  438; 
unmistakable  lessons  from  organ- 
ization of,  440. 

City  district,  an  evolution,  56. 

City  school  superintendents,  first, 
58. 

City  school  systems,  recent  rapid 
growth  of,  57;  administrative 
organization  of,  in  small  cities, 
161,  165;  in  large  cities,  170, 
172. 

Clerical  department,  375;  work  of. 


476 


INDEX 


376;  purpose  of,  377,  379;  misdi- 
rection of,  378. 

Clinical  psychologist,  336. 

Commission  form  of  government 
and  schools,  101. 

Committee  action  illustrated,  116. 

Committee  form  of  control,  112. 

Committee  service,  time-consuming, 
115. 

Committee  system,  development  of, 
79. 

Committees  of  school  boards,  con- 
fusion in  functions  of,  118. 

Community,  the,  and  superintend- 
ent of  schools,  152. 

Compulsory  attendance,  357. 

Constitutions,  early  state,  3. 

Conviction,  present,  12. 

Costs,  of  school-buildings,  391; 
school,  408. 

County  boards  of  control,  40. 

County  educational  organization, 
35,  441;  reorganization,  problems 
and  need  of,  41,  443. 

County  school  administration,  35. 

County  school  officer,  evolution  of, 
36;  early  duties  of,  37;  new  duties 
of,  38;  new  demands  on,  39. 

County  superintendency,  445. 

County  unit  organization,  rudimen- 
tary, 445;  details  of  plan  for  same, 
449. 

Courses  of  study,  construction  of, 
and  types,  274,  277;  superintend- 
ent and,  274;  information  or 
knowledge  courses,  277;  depend- 
ence upon  textbooks,  278;  ad- 
ministration of,  280;  develop- 
ment type  of,  283;  growing  courses, 
285;  variations  between  schools, 
286;  study  of  local  problems  and 
needs,  288;  economy  of  tinie,  289; 
adjustments  and  differentiations, 
294. 

Crippled  children,  schools  for,  311. 

Deaf,  oral  instruction  of,  311. 
Defects,  special  schools  for  children 

with,  311. 
Delegated  authority,  state,  19. 
Demonstration  teaching,  243. 
Differentiated-course  plan,  the,  306. 


Differentiations  in  courses,  294. 
Disciplinary  classes,  311. 
District,  the  city,  55. 
District  officers,  7. 
District  organization,  evolution  of,  6. 
District  trustee  control,  442. 
District  unit,  the,  5,  49;  bad  features 
of,  50;  not  necessary,  52. 

Economy    of    time    in    education, 

289. 
Educating  a  school  board,  146. 
Educational     department,     central 

position  of,  173. 
Educational    needs,    large    future, 

393. 
Educational  organization,  in  cities 

of  different  size,  165;  faulty,  175. 
Efficiency    departments    in    school 

systems,  334. 
Efficiency  experts,  325. 
Efficiency  in  teaching,  salaries  based 

on,  263;  type  plans  for  estimating, 

265;  incentives  to  growth,  267. 
Efficiency  movement,  325. 
Elizabeth  plan,  the,  304. 
Epileptic  children,  classes  for,  311. 
Evening  schools,  312. 
Executive  functions,  differentiations 

of,   82;   vs.   legislative  functions, 

119. 
Executive    heads    of    departments, 

174. 
Executive  officers,  selection  of,  121, 

122. 
Expenditure,  intelligent,  381, 
Experimental  pedagogy,  336. 
Experimental  rooms  or  schools,  287. 

Funds,  school,  408;  independence 
of  city  council,  411;  problem  of 
increased,  410;  competition  for 
413. 

Gardening,  school,  404. 
Gary  plan,  the,  317. 
Gary-type  schools,  388. 
Gifted  children,  classes  for,  311. 

Health  supervision,  344;  stages  of 
work,  345;  scope  of  work,  347; 
control  of,  348;    large-city  plan. 


INDEX 


477 


S50;  smaller-city  plan,  351;  the 
teacher  and,  352;  importance  of, 
353. 
Home  schools,  312. 

Industrial  classes,  311. 
Intermediate  school,  theory  of,  313. 

Library,  public,  397;  coSperation  of, 
with  schools,  397;  administrative 
control  of,  398;  in  future  school, 
400. 

Los  Angeles  schools,  organization  of, 
314. 

Mannheim  plan,  the,  308. 
Massachusetts  a  type  in  city-school 

evolution,  74. 
Measurement  by  comparison,  328. 
Measurement  of  results,  329. 
Minimum   requirements.    State   to 

establish,  466. 

Neighborhood  schools,  312. 
Newton,     Massachusetts,     schools, 

reorganization  of,  315. 
Non-English-speaking  classes,  310. 
Non-promotion,  results  of,  296. 
North  Denver  plan,  302. 

Open-air  schools,  311.  | 
Over-age  classes,  310. 
Over-ageness,  causes  of,  298. 

Parental  schools,  311,  367. 

Personal  equation,  the,  186. 

Pittsburg  building  plan,  388. 

Playground,  public,  401;  costs  and 
use,  403;  organization,  412. 

Portland  plan,  the,  305. 

Principals,  the  school,  190;  increasing 
effectiveness  of,  192. 

Problems,  state  administrative,  465. 

Production,  continuous  survey  of, 
337. 

Promotional  examinations  for  teach- 
ers, 261. 

Promotional  plans,  300. 

Promotional  rates,  299. 

Property  department,  school,  384; 
purpose  of,  385. 

Pueblo  plan,  the,  302. 


"Rate-bill,"  the,  4. 

Reading-circle  work,  234. 

Records,  and  reports,  423;  good,  a 
necessity,  423;  of  pupil,  424;  of 
school  system,  425. 

Registration  of  school-children,  362. 

Reorganization  of  upper  grades,  312. 

Reorganizations,  fundamental,  312. 

Report,  the  annual  school,  425;  effec- 
tive presentation  in,  427;  enlight- 
ening the  public,  428. 

Retardation,  294. 

Salaries,  of  teachers,  250;  based  on 
positions,  257;  defects  of  such 
schedules,  259;  additional  grants 
for  study,  259;  based  on  grades  in 
service,  260;  based  on  efficiency, 
263;  type  plans  for  estimating, 
265. 

Salary  demands,  reasonable,  253. 

Salary  increases,  automatic,  254. 

Salary  schedule,  essentials  of  a 
good,  268. 

San  Francisco,  California,  school 
funds  in,  414. 

Santa  Barbara  plan,  the,  306. 

Schenectady,  New  York,  school 
funds  in,  414. 

School  board,  evolution  of,  78. 

School  budget,  416. 

School  committee,  rise  of,  74. 

School  control,  present  conceptions 
as  to,  83;  disadvantages  of  city, 
104. 

School  laws,  first,  10. 

School  organization,  city  and  county 
contrasted,  441. 

School  property  department,  384; 
purpose  of,  385. 

School-building,  larger  use  of,  390; 
bonding  for,  391;  principal  and 
interest  cost  for,  392. 

School-gardening,  404. 

Schools,  cheap,  408;  early,  4;  new 
types  of,  310;  trade,  312. 

Standard  tests,  330. 

Standards  for  measurement,  329; 
need  for,  as  guides,  332. 

State,  the,  educational  policy  of,  25; 
establishment  of  educational  min- 
ima by,  466;  problems  of  relation- 


478 


INDEX 


ship  of,  to  city,  63;  the  unit,  in 
educational  control,  14;  vs.  city,  61. 

State  administrative  problems,  465. 

State  authorization  and  control,  14. 

State  boards  of  education,  30;  types 
of  such  boards,  31. 

State  control,  advantages  of,  22; 
disadvantages  of,  23. 

State  departments  of  education,  460. 

State  educational  organization,  27, 
453;  good,  33;  controlling  prin- 
ciples of,  461;  purposes  of  a  good, 
464. 

State  educational  policy,  25. 

State  officer,  chief,  27,  453;  poten- 
tial importance  of,  459. 

State  school  organizations,  early,  9. 

State  school  systems,  rise  of,  8. 

State  sovereignty,  recovery  of,  20. 

State  stimulation  vs.  state  uniform- 
ity, 467. 

Sub-normal,  classes  for,  311. 

Superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
evolution  of  office,  28;  duties  of, 
29;  new  demands  on,  30. 

Superintendent  of  schools,  a  new 
profession,  130;  importance  of, 
131;  duties  of,  132;  education  and 
training,  133;  apprenticeship,  134; 
learning  and  working,  135;  pitfalls, 
dangerous,  136;  qualities,  personal 
needed,  137;  leadership,  quahties 
of,  138;  three  types  of  service, 
142;  time  for  larger  problems,  143; 
as  an  organizer,  145;  as  an  execu- 
tive, 149;  as  a  supervisor,  155; 
dangers  to  be  faced,  156;  type  of, 
comprehensive,  162;  place  of  in  a 
small  city,  165 ;  powers,  guaranteed, 
170;  head  of  educational  depart- 
ment, 177;  gives  character  to  de- 
partment, 178;  assistant  super- 
intendent, 187;  and  special  super- 
visors, 188;  courses  of  study,  274; 
responsibility  for  school  proper- 
ties, 386;  state,  458;  county,  445; 

Superintendents  of  schools,  assist- 
ant, 220. 

Supervision,  evolution  of  profes- 
sional, 80;  dejficient,  237;  wrong 
type,  239;  need  for  helpful,  240; 
purpose  of  all,  240. 


Supervisors,  184. 

Supervisory  officers  and  tenure,  218. 

Supervisory  organization,  charac- 
teristics of  good,  180;  personnel 
of,  183;  underlying  purposes  of, 
193. 

Supplementary  classes,  310. 

Swimming-pools,  390. 

Teachers,  sensitiveness  to  leader- 
ship, 178;  selection  and  tenure, 
198;  guarding  appointments,  im- 
portance of,  201;  fundamental 
principles  of  action  in,  202;  stand- 
ards which  should  prevail,  203; 
methods  of  selecting,  205;  right 
rules  of  action  in  same,  206;  bases 
for  selecting,  207;  electing  appli- 
cants vs.  hunting,  209;  tenure  of, 
usual  plan,  210;  uncertain  terms 
of,  212;  life-tenure  movement, 
213;  effect  of  life  tenure  on 
schools,  214;  indefinite  tenure, 
215;  leavening  the  corps,  225; 
training  and  supervision,  225; 
local  training  schools  for,  226; 
professional  standards  for  en- 
trance, 226;  training  vs.  attract- 
ing, 230;  training  of,  in  service, 
231;  meetings  with,  233;  reading- 
circle  work,  234;  leaves  of  absence 
for  study,  235;  supervision  of, 
237;  placing  for  effective  work, 
244;  pay  and  promotion,  250; 
adequate  pay  necessary,  251; 
automatic  salary  increases,  253; 
reasonable  salary  demands,  253; 
rewarding  growth,  255;  stimulat- 
ing industry,  256;  health  work  in 
the  schools,  352. 

Teaching  efficiency,  salaries  based 
on,  263;  type  plans  for  estimating, 
265. 

Tests  of  school  work,  329. 

Town,  the  New  England,  44;  fea- 
tures of,  46. 

Town  control,  the  original,  7. 

Town  school  committee,  rise  of,  74. 

Town  and  township  organization, 
44. 

Towns,  subtraction  of  powers  from, 
72. 


INDEX 


479 


Township,  the,  47;  disadvantages  of, 
for  administration,  47;  not  a  neces- 
sary unit,  49. 

Trade  schools,  312. 

Training  schools,  local,  226. 

Transference  of  powers  to  larger 
units,  21. 

Types  of  schools,  new,  310. 

Ungraded  classes,  310, 


Unified  administrative  organization 

in  cities,  436. 
Uniform  financial  accounts,  418. 
Uniformity,  state,  467. 
Unit  costs  for  schools,  419. 
Units  of  measurement,  329. 

Vocation  schools,  311. 

Ward  boards  of  education,  93. 
Ward  system,  development  of,  79, 


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Grumbine  —  Stories  from  Browning. 

HiNCHMAN  AND  GuMMERE  —  Livcs  of  Great  Englisb  "Writers  from 

Chaucer  to  Browning. 
Matthews  —  A  Sttidy  of  Versification. 
Maynadier  —  The  Arthur  of  the  English  Pocts» 
Perry— A  Study  of  Prose  Fiction. 
Perry— A  Study  of  Poetry. 
Root  —  The  Poetry  of  Chaucer. 
SiMONDs  —  A  Student's  History  of  English  Literature. 
SiMONDS  —  A  Student's  History  of  American  Literature* 
Baker  —  Dramatic  Technique* 
Brooke  — The  Tudor  Drama. 
Matthews  —  A  Study  of  the  Drama. 
ScHELLiNG  —  A  History  of  the  Elizabethan  Drama.    2  voJs, 


ANTHOLOGIES 

POETRY 
Holt —  Leading  Engfish  Poets  from  Chaucer  to  Browning. 
Neilson  and  Webster  —  The  Chief  British  Poets  of  the  F002* 

teenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries* 
Page —  The  Chief  American  Poets. 
Weston  —  The  Chief  Middle  English  Poets. 

PROSE 

Aldew  —  Readings  ia  English  Prose  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

ALDEPf  —  Readings  in  English  Prose  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 
Part  I ;  Part  II ;  Complete, 

FoERSTER  —  The  Qiief  American  Prose  Writers. 

THE  DRAMA 
Dickinson  — Chkf  Contemporary  Dramatists,  First  Series. 
Dickinson  — Chief  Contemporary  Dramatists,  Second  Series. 
Matthews— Chief  European  Dramatists. 

Neilson— The  C3iief    Elkabethan   Dramatists    (except  Shake- 
speare) to  the  Close  of  the  Theatres. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANV 


HOW  TO  STUDY 

AND 

TEACfflNG    HOW    TO    STUDl 

By 

F.  M.  McMURRY 

Professor  of  Elementary  Education^  Teachers  Coliege 
Columbia  University 

Every  teacher,  student,  and  parent  should  read  this 
book,  —  perhaps  the  most  fundamentally  important 
educational  book  that  has  recently  appeared. 

Some  of  the  questions  which  are  fully  and  help^ 
fully  answered  in  the  book: 

Why  young  people  have  not  been  learning  to  study 
effectively. 

The  changes  necessary  to  be  made  in  the  schools  in 
order  that  they  may  learn  to  study  properly. 

How  the  large  amount  of  waste  in  home  study  can 
be  prevented. 

How  adults  should  study. 

To  what  extent  children  have  the  native  capacity  and 
experience  necessary  for  fruitful  study. 

What  can  be  done  towards  teaching  even  the  young' 
est  children  to  form  the  right  habits  of  study. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


For  College  Classes 

PHILOSOPHY  AND  ETHICS 

Cushman's  A  Beginner's  History  of  Philosophy 

Drake's  Problems  of  Conduct 

Drake's  Problems  of  Religion 

Libby's  An  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Science 

Rand's  The  Modern  Classical  Philosophers 

Rand's  The  Classical  Moralists 

Sellars's  Essentials  of  Logic 

PSYCHOLOGY  AND  EDUCATION 

Averill's  Psychology  for  Normal  Schools 

Bobbitt's  The  Curriculum 

Charters's  Teaching  the  Common  Branches 

Cubberley's  The  History  of  Education 

Cubberley's  Readings  in  the  History  of  Education 

Cubberley's  Rural  Life  and  Education 

Cubberley's  Public  Education  in  the  United  States 

Dooley's  Principles  and  Methods  of  Industrial  Education 

Earhart's  Types  of  Teaching 

Edman's  Human  Traits  and  Their  Social  Significance 

Freeman's  Experimental  Education 

Freeman's  How  Children  Learn 

Freeman's  The  Psychology  of  the  Common  Branches 

Inglis's  Principles  of  Secondary  Education 

Klrkpatrick's  The  Individual  in  the  Making 

Langfeld    and    Allport's    Elementary  Laboratory    Course   in 

Psychology 
Leake's  Industrial  Education:  Its  Problems,  Methods,  and  Dan- 
gers 

Leake's  Means  and  Methods  of  Agricultural  Education 

McMurry's  (C.  A.)  Conflicting  Principles  in  Teaching 

McMurry's  (F.  M.)  How  to  Study 

Nolan's  Teaching  of  Agriculture 

O'Shea's  Social  Development  and  Education 

Rand's  The  Classical  Psychologists 

Ruediger's  The  Principles  of  Education 

Smith's  An  Introduction  to  Educational  Sociology 

Snedden's  Problems  of  Educational  Readjustment 

Snedden's  Problems  of  Secondary  Education 

Terman's  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child 

Thomas's  Training  for  Effective  Study 

Tyler's  Growth  and  Education 

Waddle's  An  Introduction  to  Child  Psychology 

Warren's  Human  Psychology 

Wilson's  Motivation  of  School  Work 

Woodley's  The  Profession  of  Teaching 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

1942 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


39153029129824 


